The Wrong Student: The Crossroads of Maddie Sawyer
by ele300064Lyfe
Summary: Quick synopsis: Madeline 'Maddie' Sawyer got sentenced to prison of 15 years to life due to the murder of Riley Jones and the stalking of Coach Dominic. In the prison, she faces her inner demons during her time and in that time, she also faces someone who did similar activities in her last year of high school.
1. Chapter 1

PROLOGUE  
In a courtroom filled with witnesses, lawyers, and families of the victims of this young woman's crimes, Madeline 'Maddie' Sawyer has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison due to numerous crimes such as stalking Coach Dominic, the murder of Riley Jones, the attempted arson and threats against the Halligan family. On her way to prison, she reflected on what has happened between herself and Amber Halligan in their tenure in high school together as well as the soccer team. During her time in prison, she faced regret, remorse and most of all guilt for what she had done to Amber (& her family), Riley, and Coach Dominic. In that time at least in the first couple of weeks alone in prison, Maddie hasn't eaten and barely slept in days. Her roommate in her cell named Patricia (who pulled a similar stunt by murdering a well known musician's girlfriend out of spite) stopped her from doing the deed of starving herself to death from not eating by giving her a sandwich and told her that herself and most of the inmates in there has hit rock bottom. Although Maddie told Patricia she has nothing due to her heinous actions, she told Maddie that what she needs is a friend something that she abused the privilege of years earlier. Meanwhile, she finished her studies in prison as well as taking a couple of college courses to help better herself. Furthermore, she has her life sentence to reevaluate herself of the choices and consequences she brought upon herself as well as finding religion.

5 YEARS LATER

In the years passing by, she attended anger management along with some mental health sessions to help deal with her problems. In addition, Maddie and Patricia exchanged stories verbally on how they got to prison in the first place and as she told her story to Patricia, Maddie still felt regret, remorse, and most importantly guilt for what she had done in the twilight of her high school years. Even though she won't get out of prison anytime soon, she'll use her experience to educate young potential offenders and not making the same mistake she has as part of the straight path program offered by a high school. In the program, the students would take a tour of the prison and have an opportunity to meet some of the inmates and give advice to them. Her first meeting with one of the young offenders would hit a little close to home to her...

Meet Janice Hayley. She's a 17 year old high school senior who's in a basketball team. She was poised to be a prodigy basketball player but however, she has a crush/obsessive feelings on their team's new coach William Howard. Which is one of the reasons she joined the basketball team in the first place. To cope with her loneliness as well as her lack of friends due to the loss of her father (as a result of cancer), she often watched old videos of William Howard's basketball career on the internet religiously. In addition, she has numerous pictures of him decorated all over her room and notes detailing plans for their 'relationship'. So much that she spied on Coach Howard on numerous occasions for several months. Whether it's in school, outside his home or anywhere, Hayley has her eyes set on Howard literally and figuratively. Hayley felt sad, angry, and jealous when Howard told her that he doesn't date his players and is already engaged to another woman. After reports of unwanted sexual advances from Hayley to Howard from the school as well as some violent activity to her mother whenever things don't go her way especially when she found out about her obsession with her basketball coach, Hayley's mother and her school put her to a session of the straight path program. Presumably because Mrs. Hayley read about Maddie's stalking and murder on the news website and didn't want her daughter to do similar activities that would potentially lead her into prison.

In the facility, Janice went from donning her casual wear of a shirt, jeans, and sneakers to an orange jumpsuit and was assigned two inmates: Maddie and Patricia to have some sort of 'girl talk'. Maddie asked Janice was it worth it obsessing over her basketball coach due to his looks and persona as well as watching his every move. Janice answered yes and Maddie asked her was it worth it to spy on your coach everyday during school and his private hours? Patricia asked Hayley was it worth it to do by any means necessary to reach your desired end goal? Hayley told them that she doesn't know the answer and is still kinda stunned that she's in this predicament. "Let me let you know right now that it isn't worth it and you know why Janice?" said Maddie trying to hold back her tears. "Years ago, I literally threw my life away when I pursued my former coach by any means whether by stalking, threatening, framing, and murdering civilians to get the job done. I have done some horrible and terrible things to the coach, my classmate, and his wife's family which I regret. I was a total monster to them or a supervillain for that matter. Furthermore, I have to live with the consequences of my actions for the rest of my life." Hayley asked to be curious what would life be like had Maddie didn't come across her coach in the first place. She answered that instead of pursuing the coach, she could've joined a relationship support group where she could find and make friends in that social area. In addition, she could've find a hobby to make use of her time outside of her classes like drawing or singing or something like that."When its all said and done, even with all of the 'amenities' in prison, people like you shouldn't be in prison. You're lucky that you have a proud and caring mother to take care of you and trust us, some of my family members have cut out any remaining ties we have left." said Maddie. "We're not making and asking you to decide what actions you'll take in your life. I'm sure you have a bright future on your horizons and sometime down the road, someone special would come into your life and maybe you'll have your happily ever after." said Patricia. "In addition and I should've known better at the time, its never a good idea for students to be in a relationship with coaches or teachers" said Maddie. After listening to Maddie & Partrica's advice, Janice noted the similarities between her incidents and Maddie's choices. Only that in Janice's case, she hasn't reached the levels of Maddie's previous incident and after the prison tours and meeting Maddie, she felt a sense of empathy in which she learned that its inappropriate for a student to fall in love with a teacher beyond a learning/sports environment.

After the straight path session is completed, Janice was allowed to go home and having some newfound wisdom to go with her travels. Before Janice leaves the facility with her family she apologizes for her behavior to both the coach and her mother. Shortly after, she asked what's next for Maddie. Maddie told her that she's going to have to have a lot to answer for when her time comes. But she knew that whenever people like herself and Janice shows up in the facility, there's at least some good in them and even though their decisions are theirs and theirs alone, she would provide some good advice. Afterwards, Maddie and Janice embraced by giving a group hug between the family and Maddie with tears flowing from her eyes in a heartwarming moment. Mrs. Hayley told her that she helped to make a difference in Janice's life by reminding her of the consequences of her actions. As a last word of advice from the Hayley family, Mrs. Hayley advises Maddie when she's ready to forgive herself of her wrongdoings. As they departed, Mrs. Hayley sang 'Amazing Grace' to her daughter while they were walking to their car. Which consequently brought some attention to Maddie's ears.

A couple of years later, it was time for the release of Maddie's cellmate Patricia. Her brother blogger Richard came in to pick her up and meanwhile, he's writing a blog about how inmates can turn their lives around and make a difference in the world. He asked Maddie if she would like to contribute to the project. Maddie showed him her letter she's written to her victims:

Dear, Coach Dominic, the family of Riley Jones, and the Halligan family,

I decided to write this letter to share with you what's been on my mind and my heart for quite a long while. I just couldn't find how to show that I am remorseful for causing much calamity in all of your lives. Saying that I'm sorry for stalking, killing, threatning you all would be too small of a gesture in my mind. Each day when I look back at what I've done in my last high school years, I asked myself "Why didn't I respect Coach Dominic's wishes to not have a relationship with me even though I'm a fan of him?". I thought that having a relationship with him would lead to my happily after ever but in reality, it was just a sick fantasy I perpetuated in my head to compensate for my lack of friends and familial support after I lost my parents in the house fire. I let myself believe that he was the one for me in my life and in doing so, I became a monster, a bully, a resentful, and bitter woman. During that time, I blamed Riley and the Halligans for getting in the way of my obsession with Coach Dominic and in doing so, I killed him and made both Amber and her aunt Kelly feel unsafe. Although I had pleaded guilty in the courtroom and received my deserved sentence for my actions, it took me at least five years in my sentence that I began to take responsibility for both the stalking and the murder. When I volunteered for the straight path program, I met a young basketball player from a high school named Janice who faced similar challenges in her life and it gave me a wake up call to face the fact that it was my self deluded fantasy that caused the mess I've made and serving a number of years in prison. Whenever I look back, I wish I could change what has happened several years ago. I wish that instead of my obsession with Coach Dominic, I would sought out relationship supports and find some friends to keep me company and finding a good hobby. I wish I could bring Riley back to life so that his family can see him graduate and witness him accomplish his hopes and dreams in the world. I know that apologizing won't restore your lives to the status quo prior to the incident. However, I use my the experiences to atone for my wrongdoings and for past couple of years have taken responsibility for stalking Coach Dominic, harassing/threatening the Halligans, and killing Riley by dedicating the rest my life to redemption. I've been involved in the straight path program for high schoolers, anti-bullying/harassment organizations among others. I will use my new gifts of empathy and writing to share my story and hopefully prevent teenagers from making the same mistakes and failures I did years ago. At some point, I hope that you guys can find it in your heart and spirit to forgive me. During my prison stay later on, Riley's mother wrote to me asking why did I murder her son in the campus in cold blood. I knew that I owed his family some sort of closure and I detailed everything that has happened and it was in her right and the family's right to be angry with me for my actions. In addition, while I said my goodbyes to Janice as she was headed out of the facility with her mother, Mrs. Howard encouraged me to seek God's forgiveness and to forgive myself when I'm ready. Even though it took me a number of years before forgiving myself, I took her words as well as the song 'Amazing Grace' to heart and I'm committed to spend the rest of my life trying to make a difference for the community. In closing, there's a saying that you either die and rot a villain or live to see yourself make up, turn your life around to be a superhero.

Sincerely,  
Madeline Elizabeth Sawyer

"You did a great job on the letter Ms. Sawyer and I know I'm pressed for time but I want to say thank you for taking care of my sister and helping each other out. I'm hoping that she learns a valuable lesson in all of this" said Richard thankfully "Thanks for everything Madeline, and remember there's always light at the end of the tunnel of darkness. I know its corny but its true" said Patricia while giving Maddie a hug "Just remember my friends call me Maddie but Madeline is fine as well Patricia and thanks for being my friend" said Maddie with a smile along with tears in her eyes flowing down her cheeks.

AFTERMATH

Janice Hayley later graduated from her high school with honors and received an athletic scholarship her family is proud of her accomplishments. She later visited Maddie and Maddie was so proud of Janice and happy for her as well.

To be continued...


	2. Interlude: Interview with Amber Halligan

Hey everyone, Sporty Craft Kids' reporter Sidney Michaels here! Show of hands, how many of you guys like soccer? How many of you have heard of its athletes Mia Hamm, Pele, David Beckham, Lionel Messi? I think there's one that you should be on the look out for on your TVs or at your local stadium. Young upstart Amber Marie Halligan! She's been in the game since childhood throughout different cities and towns more specifically from NY to CA. Prior to making it big, she had a very, very unique high school experience and she was able to overcome the challenges of high school to play for the California Amazons women's soccer club. Without further ado, I chat with the prodigy soccer player herself about the wonders of soccer!

Sidney Michaels: Wow Amber, what a pleasant surprise for me to interview you this afternoon!

Amber Halligan: I know right, pretty cool huh? *chuckles*

SM: Yea, how's the season going for you so far?

AH: Going well, my teammates and I played our hearts out every game and we often take our time mastering the movements of our opponents and ourselves. Even though we may lose a game or two, we still have a lot of fun doing what we do on the field.

SM: That's good, lets get to business: Was it difficult to play soccer sometimes?

AH: Totally! I had to get up early in the morning to do my training drills across my backyard around the house. On some occasions, my aunt Kelly cheers me on whenever I score a goal. My aunt's trying her best to be an 'unofficial' cheerleader for me. At first I kicked the soccer balls all across the neighborhood and I had to retrieve them all before my neighbors noticed. Plus I got some cardio put in which is a bonus by the way. One of the main difficulties of playing soccer is that there's a chance that I might get seriously hurt. I don't know if you've heard of fellow soccer player Dominic Antol, but he had to retire due to an injury in one of his games. Then again, everything is a risk and you don't know what might happen in your life.

SM: That's a pretty insightful and philosophical way to put it my friend. When you're a kid, who did you look up to?

AH: Well its a good question Sid. I watched/studied Mia Hamm, Pele, and of course Dominic Antol's games and they proved to me and their fans that anything is possible when you put in the work. Not only these athletes but my parents and teachers also. They wanted me to do my best in school and athletics.

SM: Speaking of school, any good memories? Bad memories?

AH: In grade school, I helped to organize a retirement party for my English teacher Mr. Hunter along with my fellow classmates and friends. I suggested them to write down their favorite memories and drawings of him and which they did. Plus I pitched in to help pay for the pizza and cake in which Mr. Hunter enjoyed. In my high school years, it was going well until one of my classmates well, lets just say that she overstepped her boundaries of Dominic...

SM: Wait, so you're saying that DOMINIC ANTOL is your COACH?

AH: Yeppers, he was the coach of my high school for a time and as I was saying, how can I put it, she's basically a BIG bully in which she hurt a lot of people in my day. Just like any other bad guys on TV/Movies, she goes to jail.

SM: First off, that's cool that you had a coach like Dominic to be your soccer coach in high school and second, are you referring to Ms. Maddie?

*pause*

AH: Yes I was Sid.

SM: Ms. Maddie told me about what happened in high school with you guys during the Straight Path program my teacher and my dad put me in (I used to spit on random people not too long ago just for fun and I was also a bad kid myself) And some bullies feel bad about what they did to the students. Which brings me to another question: would you forgive Maddie for her mistakes if she's changed? Even though I don't condone her bad activities.

AH: AT LEAST YOU DIDN'T KILL SOMEONE AND THREATEN SOMEONE WITH FIRE!...why don't we move on to the next question please? (Note: Amber and Kelly Halligan didn't read the apology letter from Maddie that was published online as seen in "Maddie's straight path")

SM:...I am really, really sorry Amber

AH: That's ok, Its been one of the most painful moments of my life and sometimes, saying sorry doesn't erase what someone did because what's done is done. Maddie has to face and live with the consequences of her actions. You know what, I think that's my time for me to go to practice. I hope you have a nice day Sid and stay out of trouble youngster!

SM: Thank you for your time.


	3. Interlude: Madeline Sawyer: Therapy Ses

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This particular session takes place before Maddie meets Janice Hayley in a Straight Path session.

Anger: a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility.

Dr. Matthew A. Vargas is assigned to have a series of chats with inmate Madeline 'Maddie' Sawyer regarding her problems in life and why/how she got into the mess she'd made for herself. This is one of the snippets of their session in the correctional center.

Dr. Vargas: What has caused you to be angry during your last days in high school Maddie?

Madeline: I had a misplaced love for my former coach Dominic Antol in my late high school years. My 'love' for Dominic stemmed from in the middle of my childhood when I watched his games/interviews both in front of the TV and in the stands with my parents. In addition, I had been bullied and humiliated by some of my classmates by which they made fun of my body type and destroying some of my items that meant a lot to me over the years. In one notable incident, during a meet and greet of the Dragons in one of the games, my bullies literally held me back as one of them played air guitar with my ukulele and later destroyed it right in front of me. (Note: the ukulele was given to Maddie as one of her first gifts from her parents and she played music with it everyday. She wanted to bring it with her because she loves it so much and meant a lot to her) As they were continuing the onslaught, to my surprise a tall and muscular individual named Dominic Antol after witnessing what was going on stood up for me when no one else could and chased the bullies away. Afterwards he comforted and consoled me. In that respect, he's like a Superman to my Lois Lane and I haven't played with a ukulele since then. Even though the bullies later met their fate (of expulsion) the damage was already done. When I got home from school after the last meeting, I stumbled upon an interview of Dominic A. telling the viewers including myself to never give up on life and that people care about you when things get rough. Dominic was the only one that cared for me aside from my parents when nobody else did. Furthermore, since I didn't have any friends or family since my parents died in the house fire, I believed that he is my knight in shining armor since he indirectly cheered me up and made my day much better. In the process, I endangered the Halligans, Riley Jones, and Dominic's safety. I became angry and hating myself for believing in the sick fantasy I created for myself as well as hurting my victims both emotionally and physically.

Dr. Vargas: What are some of the feelings and thoughts you have experienced from all of this?

Madeline: I gotta be honest with you on that one, I had a LOT of guilt, resentment, regret from what I did. I felt bad and horrible about what I put Amber & Kelly Halligan, Riley Jones, & Dominic etc through not too long ago. Funnily enough, after I got subdued by Kelly's pot and got arrested, I sat in the police car. My head was hurting me inside and outside and the smashing noises were echoed inside my head several times. If my parents were here right now, they would've asked me 'Madeline, how did it get to this point, what happened?' I would've answered without hesitation that I had let them down and I polluted the example of what my parents wanted me to be: a great daughter, not a great monster like I am right now. Furthermore as soon as I got into prison, I wanted to punish myself even further for taking away & interfering with Riley's life & Dominic's love life respectively.

Dr. Vargas: I'm really sorry about your parents Madeline, and what you're doing right now is the process of trying to change for the better for your conscience. I think your parents would be proud of the process. Why did the ordeal make you angry inside and out?

Madeline: It drives me nuts because I'd been living a lie of being with Dominic for a long time (in retrospect) and I attempted to do whatever it takes to win Dominic's heart. By any means necessary. As a result of that, I threw away my life and my future in the real world. In addition, I could've used my engineering skills I'd learned in grade school to create a technology business or building toys for children. That's obviously not going to happen now and I've gotten myself to blame for that. Even though I watched Dominic's games on TV & in person, I still don't know him personally. I know that he had indirectly saved my life numerous times via his lectures/interviews from some of the darkest moments of my life and for helping me to keep my head up when things get tough.

Dr. Vargas: I see, long story short, your feelings for this man was something that you made up because deep down inside, you are alone and not to mention unofficially isolated from the community. It had also clouded your judgments and decision making skills is that correct?

Madeline: Yes, that is correct

Dr. Vargas: If you could change what happened, what would you do?

Madeline: Obviously, even though I wish to have the ability to do that, I can't change what I've done to these people and myself but to answer your question: I should've seek help sooner rather than later. In that respect, I would've realized that my 'love' for Dominic Antol was nothing but a myth. If that had happened, Dominic would be able to live his coaching life without me sabotaging his love life. Riley Jones would still be alive and able to accomplish his academics, his hopes and his dreams. I would also be having the privilege of being best friends with Amber Halligan. The woman who metaphorically opened the door for my high school experience. At the end of the day, I'm going to have to live with the consequences I had created for myself.

Dr. Vargas: Its great that you had a lot of remorse of what you've done to these people and yourself. And as we've discussed, you can't change what already has happened. Our session's almost up and if you're interested, a school system is sponsoring a program called 'The Straight Path'. Inmates like you would persuade students to not make the same mistakes they had before their prison sentence. In the program, students like you when you were younger faced similar challenges in their lives that causes them to put themselves and others at risk. Who knows, with a story like yours maybe you might make a difference in a child's life and yours as well if you want it too. If possible, maybe you might have time off of your sentence for helping to steer the youth offenders in the other direction. Unless if you have anything better to do in prison in the next series of years.

When its all said and done, the choice is yours Maddie...

END SESSION

#TheBeginning

Destiny has one great test in store for us all. Has mine already come, and have I failed it? A deed, once done, cannot be undone... But perhaps it may yet be mitigated.  
— Dinobot


	4. Chapter 2

It is a beautiful day on the shores of Venice Beach, California. The warm air commences across the area during the summer season. Dozens of citizens are frolicking the warm waters some in their bathing suits and others in their summer clothing of t shirts, skirts, shorts, flip flops, sneakers, and jeans to name a few. Walking on the barely damp sands of the beach is a pair consisting of Riley Joseph Jones and Madeline Elizabeth Sawyer. Riley with his jet black wavy hair decked out in his red and yellow Hawaiian shirt that's unbuttoned from his neck and a short white pants that exposes his tanned legs. Maddie with her long brunette locks and is also slightly paler than Riley is decked out in her gray colored Hibiscus patterned white dress that reaches to the top of her kneecaps. Both Riley and Maddie are barefoot on the sands of Venice Beach which allows both of their feet to be submerged into the warm and damp sand. "That was an excellent idea of having us explore Venice Beach this afternoon!" said Riley joyfully "Glad you enjoyed it, wanted to do something a little special for your birthday weekend" said Maddie "I know that you haven't been to a beach in ages and I think that I helped put an end to your little beach hiatus". "Well, now that you put it that way, at least we get to have some time to ourselves ahead of our final exams coming up as well as the upcoming soccer meet." said Riley "And I want you to know that you did this Maddie..." "Thank you, I really appreciate it Riley" said Maddie as she begins to embrace Riley by hugging him and vice versa in Riley's case. Just as they hugged, Maddie felt a damp area on the lower part of her stomach. Maddie would discover its the crimson liquid coming out of Riley. "You did this Maddie..." said Riley as he began to bleed out. As soon as Maddie blinked her eyes, she got transported along with Riley's corpse to her apartment which is also the site of Riley's murder. From there, Maddie was dressed in a dark hooded sweatshirt, dark blue jeans, and dark gloves holding her infamous knife. "NO, NO!" screamed Maddie as she tossed the knife to the side and grabbed Riley's corpse while holding his bloody wound. "You did this Maddie..." said a voice that sounded similar to Maddie's voice in the background. Immediately after, Maddie woke up from her daily rest in her prison cell at the beginning of Sunday morning. Maddie got up from her barely soft bed and onto the hard concrete ground of her cell. Behind her bed, is a small 'window' that has parallel bars attached to it that exposes the sunlight in her room. She is decked in a short sleeved orange jumpsuit along with light orange socks on her feet as well as long unkempt brown hair on Maddie's head. "RISE AND SHINE PRISONERS! AFTER YOU GET CLEANED UP, REPORT TO THE CAFETERIA FOR BREAKFAST!" said the loudspeakers in the prison. "Oh my gosh, I'm almost late for my duties!" said Maddie frantically. Soon after, Maddie got herself ready for her daily duties as soon as she cleaned and dressed herself up for the day. In the cafeteria, she has on her plate a turkey sandwich with a bread, turkey, peppers, lettuce, and cheese to complete the package. That particular combination reminded Maddie of a time that her old cellmate Patricia Wyman (who had since gotten her act together back in society and is now living with a new boyfriend) gave her a similar sandwich when Maddie attempted to starve herself to death. "Brings me back some memories" Maddie said to herself as she got seated next to her Straight Path co workers Sasha Brown and Samantha Santoro. Both of Maddie's coworkers are wearing (just like the rest of the prisoners) orange short sleeved jumpsuits with orange shoes and slippers. The notable difference is that Sasha has tanned skin and has short blonde hair on her head whereas Samantha is paler than her and has long dark red hair locks on her head as well as horn-rimmed glasses. Sasha and Samantha got sent to prison as a result of their intense partying in their neighborhood that caused dozens of damage as well as injuries to their neighbors and associates. "Anything new going on with our student sessions? I think its that time of year again when some of our students went from rotten caterpillars to clean, beautiful butterflies" said Sasha proudly. "That's an excellent analogy, ties in to graduation coming up and to answer your question I met a young lady who's into basketball and if you think of it that way, we're like some sort of sisters since both of us are athletes who fell in love with their coach. Even though I played soccer and she played basketball." said Maddie. "And later on, I learned that she's graduating real soon according to her letter she sent me. For obvious reasons I can't make it there in person to see her walk the stage..." "I see" said Samantha "I just happen to be reading a newspaper that involves one of our students named Sidney Michaels I believe, he's a good writer as well as an interviewer. I remember speaking with him when he got into trouble for spitting on people and you too Maddie when you saw him" Samantha would then pull up a copy of the article for Maddie and Sasha to read. From then, Maddie would read every word that Sidney has said to his guest and to her surprise, the guest in question is someone that Maddie was familiar with: Amber Marie Halligan. As Maddie would learn, Amber had already finished up her high school commitments and went on to California University for at least a couple of years and received her Bachleor's Degree. Later on, she continued to pursue her soccer pursuits with both Dominic and Kelly Antol (nee Halligan, they got married shortly after Amber graduated college and joining the California Amazons womens' soccer club) and helped her team win a series of games. From time to time, she also hosted a soccer/fitness program called 'Kick it with Amber!'. After reading the entire interview conducted by Sidney, Maddie would learn that Amber still resents Maddie for what she did to her several years ago when she bounded her up in her home while threatening to burn up her home along with Kelly and Dominic. Inside of Maddie, she's happy that Amber was able to follow her dreams but sad and resentful that Kelly is able to marry her former soccer coach when the dust settles. From then on, Maddie became petrified. "Are you ok Maddie?" asked Sasha "I'm fine Sasha, its just something that's been bothering me for a long time" said Maddie feeling helpless and regretful. Just then on TV, there was yet another interview with Amber Halligan. During the interview, Amber would recap her current activities in the soccer field along with her teammates while barely touching on the infamous interview with one of Maddie's students. Shortly after the interview: "When Amber puts it that way, she doesn't care if Maddie can make children happy or heck, even if she cures freaking cancer and save millions of lives she still put Amber, her aunt Kelly, her business and even the legendary DOMINIC ANTOL through hell" said one of the irate commentators. "You reap what you sow..." "I think its time for me to go to work guys, I'll catch you later" said Maddie feeling hit by the words from the TV screen "You sure, you're fine for work today Maddie? We have a slight feeling that its still eating up inside of you" said Samantha feeling concerned for her Straight Path coworker. "I'll be fine" said Maddie forcing a smile on her face. Maddie's prison duties each day besides her Straight Path program includes troubleshooting the prison's computers/cameras if they malfunction for the guards, cleaning up various areas and assisting her fellow prisoners who are struggling with their class assignments just to name a few. In addition, Maddie would help out with the cabling and organization of the equipment of the prison's Sunday Church service. In a notable instance after finishing up setting up for the sermon that is to be delivered by Dr. Frederick J. Richardson, Maddie decided to sit through most of the sermon. "How many of you all have experienced love in your lives?" asked the preacher who is dressed in a blue suit and yellow tie. Soon after, a group of prisoners raised their hands in unison including Maddie. "Now how many of you all have love someone so very much that you would do anything for him/her/them?" More prisoners had raised their hand. "Well, I don't know if you guys have read or listened to this story or not but King David faced a similar feeling a long, long, long time ago. You see, David loved Bathsheba very much that he would do anything to get her. Including hurting other people..." As the preacher speaks his piece about King David and Bathsheba, Maddie began to fall asleep as a result of her rigorous duties in prison as well as her stress. During a power point presentation illustrating the story of King David and Bathsheba, Maddie saw images of herself, Dominic Antol, Kelly Halligan, and Amber Halligan that would represent King David, Bathsheba, Uriah, and the prophet Nathan respectively. Lady Madeline witnessed a strong and handsome man returning from his bath and she summoned Dom Nic to her palace to spend some time with her in spite of him being in love with Kel. As time went on, an enemy group would storm Lady Madeline's palace and knowing that Kel is an obstacle for her happiness with Dom Nic, she sent Kel on the battlegrounds for her army in the front lines. As a result, Kel is killed during battle and soon after, Lady Madeline would marry Dom Nic and all went according to plan. Until the prophet Am showed up in Lady Madeline's quarters. From there, she told Lady Madeline a tale about a rich woman taking the only sheep a poor woman has had in her possession even though the rich woman has plenty of her own flock. From there, Lady Madeline realizes that SHE IS THE RICH WOMAN. After the realization, Lady Madeline would be arrested and tried for murder of Kel..."Nooooo!" screamed Maddie as she woke up from her latest nightmare "Are you alright?, the service has concluded" said the concerned Dr. Richardson after helping to wake Maddie up at least a half hour post sermon. "I understand not everybody is a fan of the message that I deliver and that's ok. What matters is is that the message needed to be spread because sometimes sooner or later, it might apply to you as well in your everyday life." "Lets just say I had a rough morning Pastor Richardson" said Maddie "Even though I don't know your life among others, I have a feeling you've been through a lot in your life that landed you into prison. You're not the only one who's facing those demons and challenges in their lives. I hope that someday you can do something about it Maddie" said Dr. Richardson "Thanks for the insight, I should get back to my cell, I have a long feeling its going to be another long day for me tomorrow and the years to come" said Maddie. There's going to be some dark clouds on her horizon on Madeline Sawyer's path. Some would be natural disasters and others might be some tough lessons that she has to learn. After some supper, Maddie cleaned herself up in the bathroom and as she finished up cleaning her face in her cell she overheard a voice that sounded similar to hers once again. "That was one Sunday School service that deserves to be in the record books my friend" "Who's there?!" said Maddie frightened "Behind you silly" said the voice and after Maddie turned around, she saw a reflection of herself in her last high school years. She has on a black sleeveless sports shirt along with her blue sleeveless undershirt as well as black soccer shorts. On the figure's head, her hair color is brunette and tied into a pony tail. "Is it me or I'm literally looking at myself when I was younger" said Maddie curiously. "You know something bud, we're the only ones in this cell and I've been reading and pondering your 'apology' letter claiming that your precious love for Dominic is just another sick fantasy that you made up on your noggin. Because deep down inside, nobody CARED for you when you got humiliated and disrespected in grade school as well as not having any friends in your social circle. NEWS FLASH: your feelings for Dominic are REAL..." "And guess what, Dominic is living a happy life with his wife Kelly and Amber is living her life the right way" said Maddie interrupting the reflection inside her "Basically, you're defending the whore instead of not giving up on your love? Lets face it, its still there whether you like or not and your Straight Path program, spending time with Jesus and not to mention your 'friendship' with Janice. They're just band aids. Bravo Maddie. Bravo." said Inner Maddie "You know what come to think of it, as long as I'm in prison, we won't get to hurt anyone else and everyone would get to live their happy lives. Like I'm said as long as Dominic is happy, I'm happy and you should get used to it" said Maddie "Good choice of words. Hope is just a meaningless concept and we'll see each other again soon..." said Inner Maddie as she disappears from Maddie's vision.

"Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, "Love your enemies." It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person...There's something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies." - Martin Luther King Jr.


	5. Chapter 3

Mondays. It's often the beginning of a brand new week after Sunday. Kids go into school, adults have to go to work in order to obtain their hard earned money. Certain characters often despise that day since its most generally the end of the weekend of relaxation. This is no ordinary Monday because this special Monday is GRADUATION DAY! for someone who worked really hard on their lessons, persevere when things get rough, and able to get the job done. The sun may had set for someone's high school career but the sun will rise for the beginning of something new…..  
GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA  
"Janice, it's time to get ready for your graduation today!" said Sonia Hayley opening up the door to Janice's room. Sonia is dressed in a blue floral print shoulder lace dress and her hair is braided up to resemble short hair on her head. "Okay Mom, you don't need to tell me to wake up twice. I know my graduation is today, it said so on my calendar" said Janice slightly laughing as she spits out her words. Janice is dressed in a sleeveless red t shirt as well as long, soft pink striped pajama pants that covered her legs. On the top of her head is short and partially dyed blue hair and the rest her natural color of black. "I'll meet you in the kitchen for some breakfast I've cooked up for you" said Sonia excitedly. Soon after, Janice would clean herself up thoroughly inside her bathroom and after she washed up and brushed her teeth, she would then be dressed in a light gray sleeveless dress along with her matching sandals on her feet. As she stepped out of the bathroom, she smelled the aroma of her special breakfast that her mother had prepared just for her. Janice would soon see on her plate a section of scrambled eggs, toasted french toast coated with syrup, crispy bacon, and to top it all off, a pancake with whipped cream and a strawberry on top that resembles a smiley face greeting Janice on her hard work done throughout her high school career. "Well Janice, what do you think?" asked Sonia proudly of her daughter's accomplishments. "It looks amazing Mother, thanks for preparing the special dish for me. I'd bet that the time you spent making the food for me would pay off sooner or later!" said Janice gladly "You know, I'm kinda surprised that I was able to survive my last school year in the high school year. Coming from me struggling in my classes namely English and World History; not a fan of writing papers but I had to do em anyways, trying and later making the women's high school basketball team while winning a couple of games for the school, and not to mention my 'love' for my soon to be former basketball coach that almost got me into trouble. Nonetheless, I'm happy for him and his soon to be 'Basketball Wife' ". "That's a pretty impressive turn of events going on in your last year in high school. Speaking of 'sports love', I bet visiting Ms. Maddie helped you out a bit huh?" said Sonia "First of all, I bet ' ' would probably be less formal when you address her and second of all, I wish she'll be able to attend my graduation ceremony. After all, she's the one who helped me stay out of prison" said Janice "Well, I'm glad Ms. Madd...I mean Maddie helped ya out and I'm not disagreeing with what you're saying but I don't think Maddie would be able to attend your graduation as a result of her past history" said Sonia "But if we have time, we'll probably stop by her cell and have the opportunity to show off your new diploma. And not to mention your bragging rights!" "Trying to be hip but you'll be able to keep with us soon enough" said Janice "Just realized after all this talk, my food is beginning to get cold" "Well, dig in then! You got a long and busy day ahead of ya" said Sonia laughingly. Janice would immediately consume her plate of meat, grains, and some fruit for her soon to be full stomach and after putting on her makeup, Janice would go into the car so that Sonia would be able to take her to her graduation ceremony located at the Pauley Pavilion. During the travel to the ceremony, Janice would think about what the future would hold for her in the real world when it comes to her job, living on her own, finding love, and ultimately figuring out what's best for her. "We're almost here Janice, you've been waiting a long time for this moment. Expect me to take dozens of pics me and your cousins who are attending your ceremony as well" said Sonia. "Lets do this" said Janice excitedly. As they walked into the auditorium, Janice and Sonia noticed the LED ribbon board saying 'Congratulations Class of 2021!' and all over the arena, there's seats to be occupied by families, friends, and teachers of the incoming graduates. "Well, I better go and get ready to walk the stage and get my diploma" said Janice excitedly as she heads to the back to change into her graduation attire which consists of a dark red graduation robe along with her matching cap/tassel on her head. After she changed, she would go on to her fellow graduates on the walkway to her seating area in the arena. "Any future plans for your life Janice?" asked Michelle who's one of her classmates/fellow basketball player "That's a really good question Michelle and to be honest, I really don't know because I don't know what the future would hold for me and you guys." said Janice pondering what her future would hold for her "For starters, I'll probably help my mother out on her business or something like that. Matter of fact, I might be going to a first year experience class for people with special needs like myself. It would most likely give me an edge before I take my college classes haha" "That sounds like you got it planned!" said Michelle joyfully learning about Janice's plans in the real world. After their conversation, it's time for graduation! The orchestra played the famous song that's played for graduations nationwide: Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D. During the procussions made by the orchestra, the entire class of 2021 proceeded to walk down the aisle and into their seats with thunderous applause. Afterwards, the principal of Janice's high school Mrs. Lindsey Graham would then greet the graduating class and congratulate them once again for their job well done. Soon after, a series of musical performances were brought up and one of Janice's classmates Nicole Richardson sang an excellent rendition of Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield on stage.  
 _"_ _...Staring at the blank page before you_  
 _Open up the dirty window_  
 _Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find_

 _Reaching for something in the distance_  
 _So close you can almost taste it_  
 _Release your inhibitions_

 _Feel the rain on your skin_  
 _No one else can feel it for you_  
 _Only you can let it in_  
 _No one else, no one else_  
 _Can speak the words on your lips_  
 _Drench yourself in words unspoken_  
 _Live your life with arms wide open_  
 _Today is where your book begins.."_ sang Nicole smoothly. During the performance, Janice reflected on her secondary education career in which she often had to ask the teacher for assistance with her assignments. Especially when she struggled to complete her math assignments, her math teacher somewhat begged her to focus on her lessons. In addition, she met later on in her high school career her soon to be former basketball coach William Howard who in Janice's mind was her knight in shining armor. That is until her mentor Maddie Sawyer along with her mother told her otherwise. As a result afterwards, Janice would go on to become valedictorian of her class after her much needed motivation! After the singing festivities was completed, Janice would go on to deliver her speech to the audience in which she reflected on her secondary education career, some words of wisdom to the graduating class, and how meeting Maddie changed her perspective. "...You know, if it wasn't for Maddie, I would've done some things that I would've regret such as hurting people and indirectly their families. Some people like myself don't have an easy life to live and in some cases, we wear a 'mask' of someone loving someone who has little to no interest in dating. Inside that mask, there's a lonely boy, a girl, or someone in between. When it gets down to it, there's people in this world that care about us." said Janice. "And now let's welcome back a very special guest who's going to say a couple of words to the graduating class." said the principal. "They used to go to this high school several years back and some say, they were literally a STAR athlete. Later on, they would go on for a memorable career in soccer and would later instill the same principles he had learned on the field to a new generation of athletes everywhere. Ladies and Gentlemen, it's my privilege and honor to introduce the guest speaker: Mr. Dominic Antol!" A thunderous applause commences as soon as Dominic walks the stage to the podium. He's dressed in a dark red graduation gown on his body along with a dark scarf on his shoulders. He has short dark hair on his head and on his chin, he has a short beard that has the same color as his hair on his head. Janice is surprised to witness Dominic Antol literally right in front of her. The same man that her mentor had pursued a couple of years back. The same man who he and his now wife Kelly almost had their lives ruined as a result of Maddie's actions. The same man who would go on to mentor the young soccer upstart Amber Halligan. "Thank you Mrs. Graham, how's everybody doing today" asked Dominic as the crowd goes wild and crazy for him "You made it, you reached the end of the road of educational race. But first, why don't we take a little pit stop so you can hear some words of encouragement and wisdom. I'm kinda a bit of a racing fan *chuckles* soccer ain't the only cup of tea I drink" "As Mrs. Graham had mentioned during the intro, I used to go to this very school years, and years ago before you ever walked those doors. I had to admit, I used to slack off on my school work and would rather much go to parties, play some arcade games at the game room and join soccer clubs around my community. However even though I had a lot of fun, my learning skills were shrinking and I was failing. Consequently, I had to repeat a couple of my grades and the cool thing about it is, is that I learned that achieving your goals in this world is like a marathon, not a sprint. To the parents, I bet you're wondering what happened to the years you spent raising your children to be good students. In the beginning, you witnessed them heading off to kindergarten to begin their voyage into learning. In the years ahead much like my soccer career, some of them have their greatest hits and some of them have their greatest misses. The most important thing that they did is that they learned to play and later beat the game." said Dominic to an applause. "All of you are the natives in a digital, economical, and wonderful world that would go out to make a difference in the community. When it's all said and done, only you can write your own story...and speaking of new beginnings, I've been married to my loving and caring wife Kelly Halligan-Antol for a while now and I'd been a student here at this school, an athlete, a soccer coach and now….a Father." as soon as he announced the good news, the audience cheered really loudly. "With that being said, I wish all of you luck in your future endeavors in life and love" said Dominic as he exited the stage "That was one great speech and once again congratulations to Dominic Antol who's going to be a new daddy!" said Mrs. Graham. "And now, lets deliver some diplomas to these deserving students"  
From there, the class of 2021 would go form a line to the stage to receive their diplomas. As minutes go by, Janice is one step closer to getting her diplomas. "Janice Virginia Hayley" said the loudspeaker as Janice would walk the stage and get her diploma from her principal as well as a bouquet of flowers and an impromptu photo op. After the students get their diplomas, the graduation ceremony is complete! And since the graduation ended earlier than expected Janice would pull out her phone to look up visiting hours for Maddie's prison because Janice wanted Maddie to see what she has accomplished! As well as letting her know about Dominic's new 'position' in his family.  
END ACT II

"But on you will go  
though the water be foul.  
On you will go  
though your enemies prowl.  
On you will go  
though the Hakken-Kraks howl.  
Onward up many a frightening creek,  
though your arms may get sore  
and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike.  
And I know you'll hike far  
and face up to your problems  
whatever they are." - Dr. Seuss


	6. Chapter 4

ACT III  
It is now official. Janice Virginia Hayley is now a graduate of her class of 2021 after she received her brand new diploma. Her mother and her cousins congratulated her on a job well done. "Look at you Janice, you did it!" said Sonia as she gave her daughter a hug "Thanks Mom, I really appreciate it! I can't really believe this is happening right now" said Janice as she relishes in the moment "Just realized, the visiting hours in Maddie's prison is gonna be done in a couple of hours! Wanted to show her my diploma and tell her that I officially graduated." "Tell you what, since it's your special day today, why don't we hit the road to see Ms. Mad...I mean Maddie" said Sonia. After the declaration, they're off to see Maddie once more. And speaking of Maddie, even though she can't attend the graduation in person due to her criminal record but she attended in spirit and in fact, she even caught a glimpse of her walking the stage as part of the graduation highlights during the telecast being streamed in the prison quarters. During that time, Maddie and her associates Sasha and Samantha were playing a round of go-fish to pass the time. "...5?" asked Sasha "Go fish" said Samantha. "7?" asked Samantha as she picks up another card. "10?" asked Maddie with her card collection deck adjacent to her on the table. "Looks like you win again…" said Samantha as she conceded defeat in the hands of Maddie Sawyer. "You betcha" said Maddie with a cocky smile on her face. Just then, some of the highlights of the graduation where Janice Hayley walked the stage as a literal transition from a grade school student to a fully grown woman who lives in the real world. "That must be one of your former students huh Maddie?" observed Sasha. "That's correct Sasha" said Maddie proudly of her student's accomplishment in the world. "It kinda sucked that you had to miss your high school graduation due to your 'extracurricular activities'" said Samantha "Yeah...but it's fine…had I not been caught I probably would've failed at least some of my classes." said Maddie. "This could've been you on the stage in front of hundreds-thousands of people, your friends, and your family" said Dark Maddie as she appeared sitting next to Maddie dressed in a dark pink loose t shirt with black shorts along with long white socks and black tennis shoes. "You would've walked the stage getting your diploma handed to you by the principal as well as some beautiful and delicate flowers placed on your fingertips. But instead, you got yourself into prison, away from society, and most importantly..away from getting Dominic's heart." "What I did all these years ago, was going too far and to be fair, the police would figure things out sooner or later had I done the deed of burning down Amber's house" said Maddie defiantly "What was I supposed to do? Continue to quote unquote follow my heart at the risk of people's safety and my sanity." "Well, yeah Maddie, it's just oh how I would say it.. Collateral Damage. Matter of fact, I think you should keep watching the TV, I have a feeling it's going to be pretty interesting…" said Dark Maddie as she pointed to the TV. In which, the TV began to show clips of Dominic Antol's graduation motivation speech that he delivered to the graduating class. To Maddie's surprise, Dominic's going to be a new Dad and his wife Kelly Halligan is going to be a new Mother respectively to their new child. From there, Maddie would open up her stomach to a swarm of marching butterflies in which they flew rapidly until all of them dissolve. "When it's all said and done, the woman who ruined your life and sent you here is going to start a family and live their lives without you. And quite frankly, Amber doesn't want anything to do with you as well." said Dark Maddie touching Maddie's shoulder "And speaking of proud parents, I wonder how much regret that your mommy and daddy had of raising a failure of a daughter…" "KNOCK. IT. OFF!" said Maddie as she slammed her fist on the table that produces an earthquake like shattering sound that startled everyone in the room and looking at her almost immediately. "...I think I might need some alone time.." said Maddie embarrassingly as she exited the rec room. "I hope she's gonna be ok, she had a long couple of years that she's never gonna get back if she gets out of here. And not to mention her senior year of high school" said Samantha in her head.  
Maddie would then return to her cell finally in the seclusion of her inner confines. From there in an attempt to clear head, Maddie would then take a nap to which would bring her a moment of reflection…"Trying to find your 'happy place' I see Maddie, trying your hardest to find your Zen? The way it goes is that as long as I'm around, it ain't gonna happen because you reap what you sow... " said Dark Maddie "Thought I told you to leave me alone" said Maddie worried "The thing is 'Lady Madeline' is that I'm a part of you whether you like it or not and I've been with you through the good and the bad parts of your life. If it wasn't for the whore, you would've been an excellent wife to the soon to be 'Big Daddy' Dominic and to be honest during the part that we tied up your 'bestie' Amber we would've spared her anyways." said Dark Maddie "Its a lie, we would've scorched her regardless as well as Dominic and everyone close to them." said Maddie "Know what, we'll finish this conversation later, you have a visitor…" said Dark Maddie as Maddie woke up from her brief nap. From there, the police officer would say as he is approaching Maddie's cell: "Madeline Sawyer, there's a visitor waiting for you" "I'll be right up" said Maddie as she is on her way to meet her visitor. From there, she notices a very familiar face right in front of her. Janice Hayley: the newly appointed graduate of her high school! "What do you think Maddie. Pretty cool huh?!" said Janice. "Come here Janice and let me give you a hug" said Maddie proudly as she did the deed. "Congratulations Janice, I'm so proud of you and your accomplishments. You made your dreams happen and you took my advice very seriously" "Thanks Maddie. I really appreciate it very much. As you can see, I'm in my cap and gown and I understand that you were unable to make it to my graduation in person due to obvious reasons" said Janice "So I decided to bring at least some of my graduation to you Maddie." "That's very nice of you Janice and as a matter of fact, I watched a significant portion of your graduation on the rec room TV while I was playing go fish my fellow inmates. You did a fantastic job on your graduation speech in front of tons of people in the arena. If I were in your shoes, I would've been nervous" said Maddie. "Thanks for the nice comments Maddie, I did do a fantastic job with my speech. Had to practice at least several times before I headed out haha. And to be fair, I would've been nervous myself saying what you needed to say in front of dozens to thousands of people on both the seats and bleachers." said Janice "I don't know if you've watched the entirety of the graduation but I saw your former coach Dominic Antol delivering a speech of motivation and wisdom to my graduating class" "I did see it as a matter of fact and I heard he's going to be a great father one day and that's fine" said Maddie with somewhat mixed emotions inside of her knowing that Maddie isn't going to be his lover. "Let me ask you something, and stop me if we've discussed this topic already but what got you into your former coach and why did he mean a lot to you?" asked Janice "That's a pretty good question and it's literally going to be a long story if you don't mind sticking around for it. Several years into my childhood, It wasn't very kind to me. Even though I've been doing pretty well in my classes throughout my school years my social life wasn't perfect. You see. I attempted to make some friends and I made about 5 friends during my tenure in school and I did a series of morning shows with a couple of my friends before our classes started and it was one of the best moments of my educational career but unfortunately after a while, they moved away to different states. Other than that, most of my classmates often take advantage of my kindness whenever they 'borrowed' my school supplies and textbooks which would leave me to pay for them out of my allowances. Luckily, my late parents found about it and told me not to worry about that. Furthermore I had a 'unique incident' that had happened to me….." said Maddie in her reflection.

SEVERAL YEARS AGO  
"Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Madeline! Happy Birthday to you!" said the parents of Maddie Sawyer as they delivered her a birthday meal comprised of waffles, pancakes, and eggs for the birthday girl. "Bon appetit!" said David Sawyer who's dressed in a short sleeve polo shirt with jeans that covers his legs "Thanks Dad!" said Maddie who's dressed in a California Dragons T shirt that's in the RUN DMC typeface and jean shorts as well as low cut socks and sneakers. "Hope you enjoy the birthday meal sweetheart!" said Monica Sawyer who has brown hair just like her daughter and dressed in a summer dress that reaches down to her knees and matching orange sandals on her feet. "Cooked it all up myself with your dad's help as well! Lets address the elephant in the room" said Monica with a smile "Ready for your very first field trip to the California Dragons soccer game? And guess what, we'll be one of the chaperones for the occasion!" "I've been born ready since I watched star player Dominic Antol's first game on my TV screen. Looking forward to meeting him for the first time in person" said Maddie very excitedly of her field trip. Immediately after the conversation with her parents, Maddie would consume her birthday meal on her plate in which Maddie embarked on a sweet and protein escape when she ate her waffles coated with warm syrup and her well done eggs. "All set and ready to go!" said Maddie as she just finished up her breakfast meal. "Don't forget your special ukulele I know you always play your music all over the house and the neighborhood!" said Monica as she handed Maddie her ukelele, one of the first presents that Maddie had received in her childhood. "Let's hit the road kiddo, last thing we want is for the buses at your school to leave us at the dust!" said David as he gathered his wife and daughter to their family car and set on a course to Maddie's school. On their way to the school, Maddie would play the victory song that she would hear whenever her favorite soccer team wins a game: 'We are the Champions' by Queen on her ukelele anticipating the victory of the Dragons once more but this time in person! As they've arrived to the school, the family would almost immediately board the bus that's filled with teachers, students, and chaperones including the Sawyers. After the bus ride, the class would arrive at the soccer stadium just in time for the first period and as the game went on, the Dragons are leading against their opponents. As the play clock expired, the class was treated to an autograph signing session by the Dragons and Maddie is very excited about it so much that she decided to bring in her ukulele to get signed by one of the players. As she went in line, she's confronted by a unique 'associate'. "Where do you think you're going sweetheart?!" asked Beatrice Rodiger who's dressed in a sleeveless pink shirt with her jean shorts on her legs as well as orange hair on her head. "I'm going to meet some of the soccer players just like the rest of the class as well as getting my ukulele signed" said Maddie. "That's nice, you know that's a real cool instrument you have there, would be a shame if something happens to it" said Beatrice. It's not the first time the two of them interacted, in which Beatrice would call Maddie 'french fries' several times in PE class making fun of her body in the process, blaming Maddie for her team's loss after the team building exercises and often took out her frustrations on her without being caught initially by the staff and most notably during a game of potato sack racing, Maddie would accidentally collide with Beatrice near the finish line during which she saw a couple of bruises on her body. When Maddie reached out to her after the accident asking if Beatrice is ok. Beatrice would proceed to pour hot tomato sauce from the condiment table onto Maddie and run off. "Can I take a look at your ukulele Maddie?" asked Beatrice "If you want to but please give it back to me" said Maddie giving her permission to hold the ukulele as a couple of Beatrice's associates began to hold her. "Look at me I'm a rockstar!" exclaimed Beatrice "Stop it, please!" said Maddie as tears began to fall from her eyes and at the same time, Beatrice would smash her ukulele, her most prized possession, and her best friend into pieces. "Now that the annoying musical instrument is finished, lets take out the crying trash" said Beatrice as she and her posse carry the crying and broken Maddie off the ground. Just then a loud voice would scream: "Put her down and leave her alone right now! Do it or I'll tell the staff about what you've done" As the bullies depart the scene, Maddie would turn around and see a tall, muscular man who's dressed in a blue and white soccer uniform and he scratches his short black hair on his head. "Are you ok kid?" asked the player. "I'm fine now that you're here" said Maddie "You must be Dominic Antol!" "Yep that's me, couldn't help but hear that you've been messed up really bad. Trust me I've had those times as well in grade school" said Dominic comforting one of his fans. "Let's get you back to your folks and get you cleaned up."  
….."This is the moment that would change my life forever. After that, the bullies got expelled after the faculty found out about what transpired. As for me, I continued to watch his games both in person and in front of the TV. Sometimes, I hardly make friends in the community and in school and Dominic's lectures about social skills had helped me to gain some confidence in meeting new people." said Maddie as she finishes her story "I'm sorry that had happened to you Maddie. But I'm guessing that when you saw Dominic at your school for the first time, you held back the fact that you met him when you were a lot younger." observed Janice "If you put it that way, yeah. I didn't want to be viewed as a victim. I wanted to be viewed as his potential suitor and look how that turned out" said Maddie with a chuckle "It's almost time for me to go, if you ever need some help after you get out, here's my contact information if you want it" said Janice as she handed Maddie her phone number. "Thanks I appreciate it, remember to stay positive and stay strong" said Maddie as she embraced Janice once more.

END ACT III


	7. Chapter 5

ACT IV  
Its normally just a typical day for Maddie Sawyer in her prison in which she cleans up some areas of the prison, worked in tech support at her church, interacted with her cellmates, and most importantly making a difference in the community as part of the Straight Path program. Later on, it seems not the case because she and the rest of her cellmates had to attend a meeting in the meeting area about living with the consequences of your actions as well as returning to the community. "Listen up everyone, today we have a very special guest to share their struggles in life as well as overcoming those obstacles to be a better person. Please welcome Mr. Dominic Antol" said the speaker as Dominic arrived to the premises dressed in a buttoned down blue shirt with a black jacket with matching shoes on his feet. Maddie was surprised to see Dominic once more in her life after so many years and slightly older than the last time they crossed paths. Years back, Maddie tied up her former friend Amber Halligan and threatened to burn her house down and everyone in it because Dominic refused to take Maddie's heart and instead took the rightful heart: Kelly Halligan. Kelly would then smash a skillet onto Maddie's head foiling her plans once and for all. As a result, Maddie was sent to prison for several years of which would never return to Maddie as well as being estranged from the Halligans and until now Dominic Antol. Butterflies had entered Maddie's stomach causing her worry and fear of whatever repercussions she must face head on. At first, she would be glad to see him again but now she feels sad and resentful at him. "Thank you all for coming to this seminar this afternoon. There's a saying that 'everybody makes mistakes' and that saying is true" said Dominic "In extreme cases, mistakes would cause someone to get hurt, worried, and terrified among others. You see several years ago, I used to be a rebellious teenager, the 'cool kid in school if you will' during which, I threw a couple of parties during the semester having some fun while drinking in the process. I got into the wheel wanting to show off my new car to my friends and in doing so, I did it while I was intoxicated along with my associates. As a result of that, I ran over a pedestrian who was simply going back to his home after a long day of work and it was one of the worst evenings of my life. Luckily, the pedestrian survived and is alive and well but unluckily for me, I had to spend some time in jail due to my actions and it made me realize my drinking habits was going too far. During my time in the slammer, I was introduced into a sports program for troublesome youth which included soccer. At first I was hesitant to join in but after awhile and some practice, I became a star player for the team. Ultimately, that was the beginning of my soccer career that lasted for many years. There's a saying that life gives you lemons and in some cases if you choose to, you make lemonade. It might be corny but the saying is true". Just as Dominic is finishing up his lecture to the prisoners, Maddie witnessed one of her fellow prisoners pull out a knife concealed from her pocket in an attempt to hurt Dominic. Immediately after, Maddie confronted the prisoner who has dirty blonde hair, a slight resemblance to Uma Thurman, and a lack of makeup on her face . "What are you doing?" asked Maddie concerned "Its none of your business, Maddie, I've heard alot about your deeds to this man and his family over the years. I'm doing you a favor right now." said the prisoner. "Guess what, since you brought up my name and what happened years ago, it is my business as well" said Maddie as she grabbed the prisoner's arm dropping the knife from her hands. "I'm going to ask you again, why are you attempting to hurt Dominic?" "If it means so much to you, a while back I was working for his wife's company in an office area and my family and I can barely pay for our rent for our house. I needed to get some more money that was beyond my normal paycheck." said the prisoner "I had to embezzle the money from her business and unsurprisingly I got fired from my job and everyone in the community knows what I did. Kelly delivered me pain and suffering after taking my job away from me and that's why I had to do what I had to do right now. Like I said earlier, you had problems with them as well in your life."  
"Listen, I'm not disagreeing with what you're saying. Both Kelly and Dominic had changed both of our lives forever regardless of the situations we faced. But we all have choices we have to face and we just happen to pick the wrong ones which led us here for a long time. I know what it's like to defend your family's' honor and I used to have my parents to take care of me and you taking care of your family. Just because you're down on your luck doesn't make it right to steal money to provide for your family when your pay isn't enough. In addition, just because being fired doesn't mean you have to give up and hurt other people. It just gives you an opportunity to see what other skills you have in the world and other bosses would be happy to hire you. And if there's a small chance Kelly would hire you back since you've paid your dues." said Maddie empathically to the prisoner. "What was I doing, that's not what my kids would expect of me" said the prisoner after hearing Maddie's words getting through to her. "It's gonna be ok, lets just chalk it up to a learning experience and you have a long way to go" said Maddie parting with the prisoner. "That's a great speech you made there Maddie, I think you kinda outdid mine" said Dominic thanking Maddie for saving his life from doom. "Thanks Dominic, surprised to see you here after all these years. Looks like I'm not the only person in this world that has skeletons in their closet" said Maddie with some chuckles "Heard, that you're a father now with your wife." "Yeah, it's not easy being a parent but it's worth it when we put in the work to raise our kid. I'd read your letter regarding what had happened years ago and you had been through a lot in your life. It kinda reminded me of when I met a younger fan years ago during one of my soccer games I hope that she's able to find some happiness in her life" said Dominic "Me too" thought Maddie since she's the young fan in question. "But you still take away Riley from this earth and threatened me and my family" said Dominic with a serious look to Maddie "Nonetheless, I heard nothing but good things with the straight path program that you're involved in." "Thanks Dominic, I'm glad you and Kelly are having a great life. Speaking of which since you've more or less forgiven me, do you think Kelly and Amber would forgive me as well?" asked Maddie with butterflies inside her stomach. "When it's all said and done, it's not up to me for Kelly and Amber to forgive you Maddie. That might be something you have to do on your own." said Dominic. "There will come a time that you would have to forgive yourself and if you get out of here, you have to figure out what's best for you. I gotta head out Maddie hope you have a great day" "Goodbye Dominic" said Maddie as she began to process what had transpired.  
FIVE YEARS LATER:  
"Madeline Elizabeth Sawyer, you are free to go" announced the prison guard just as Maddie was about to get herself dressed for her now-former prison duties. "Really and are you serious?" asked Maddie "Yes ma'am are you going or not?!" asked the prison guard. "I'll be out momentarily." said Maddie as she began to gather her stuff to take with her including her money that she had earned during her 10 year incarceration that was commuted from her life sentence thanks to her involvement in the Straight Path program. As she is packing her belongings, it was a bittersweet moment for Maddie because she had made a difference in the community thanks to the program, learned some lessons and not to mention, gaining a new perspective on what was going on in her life over the years. Even though she won't be seeing her fellow prisoners again for a very long time, Maddie is looking forward to returning to society. After Maddie gathered her belongings for release and as she made her way to the gate, one of the prison guards told Maddie, "You know, even though you've finished your time here in prison, you're still inside a prison Maddie. Abiet a metaphorical one that would probably last for at least a couple of years." Upon hearing that, Maddie is ready for her next chapter in life! Just as Maddie is about to board her bus, she saw the words 'I'm not finished' on the windows of her bus right in front of her. Feeling horrified, Maddie rubbed her eyes and soon after, the words were gone. "Just another bad daydream, off we go!" said Maddie as she boarded the bus. During the bus ride, Maddie would figure out what her next steps are going to be. Just then to Maddie's surprise, she saw a billboard advertising a dual book signing by none other than Kelly and Amber Halligan! "I think I'm ready to make things right with Amber and Kelly Halligan and it's been a decade after what had transpired between us. Hope they would understand why I did what I did" thought Maddie determined to make amends to her former best friend. After a couple of stops, the bus made it to Target where the book signing is held and wasting no time, Maddie is set to meet with the Halligans once more. "Let's do this" said Maddie to herself as she set off to see them and in her path, at least a couple of the customers recognized Maddie. "Aren't you one of the soccer players we saw on a couple of movies" asked one of the customers "I used to play soccer but not anymore if that's what you're asking" answered Maddie "I think that's the one that killed that Riley fella" mentioned another customer in their group as they walked away from her fastly. "That's ought to be expected" observed Maddie as she continued on her path. After walking numerous aisles, she reaches her destination: the dual book signing of the Halligans' new projects; 'Kick it with Amber Halligan' and 'How to make your Business BLOSSOM' written by Amber and Kelly Halligan respectively. In front of Maddie, she saw the Halligans signing autographs for their fans as well as taking pictures with them. Amber is dressed in a dark red tracksuit with white stripes on the sides along with white sneakers on her feet as well as her hair tied into a ponytail. Kelly is dressed in a grey suit and dress with matching shoes and her long blonde hair is flowing to her shoulders. On their booth, there were a couple of security guards one male and one female. "...and that autograph goes for you youngster!" said Amber as she signed a young fan's copy of her book "And here's one for you too Mom" said Kelly playfully as she signed a copy of her book to his mother. "I'm sure Gibson is going to have a field day with these sales Amber! I bet the hard work we put into these books are worth it" "I agree Aunt Kelly, I'm glad that a new generation would learn a thing or two about soccer and business management" said Amber feeling accomplished. Just then, it was Maddie's turn to step up to their booth and as soon as Maddie laid eyes on the Halligans, they were shocked to see Maddie in person and in the flesh! The presence of a former best friend that used to be in their social circle and a lovesick stalker who attempted to ruin their life as a result of a man would cause them to be petrified and shocked at the mere sight of seeing her for the first time in years. "Look, I know I'm probably the last person you want to see right now and I'm not here for Dominic. I came here to apologize for what I had done to you all these years ago. I want to make amends and reconcile with an old friend of mine…" "Save it Maddie" interrupted Kelly "I thought you'd known better by now that Dominic is happy right now in his life and so is Amber. As a matter of fact, I'm asking you to leave. Right. Now." Maddie after hearing those words coming out of Kelly's mouth was shocked that the Halligans would refuse to listen to her and rightfully so. Moments later, Security stepped up. "Is there a problem ma'am?" "I was just leaving the premises" said Maddie barely containing her heartbreak as she began to walk out of the store but not before picking up and buying a pack of ramen noodles. After a long bus ride from the store, Maddie was finally back to her apartment for the first time in many years. As she walked to her entrance, she saw looked down on dried up blood from Riley that was spilled years ago during his stabbing. "Home sweet home" said Dark Maddie as she made her return. "Knew you'd be back here sooner or later since its the only place you'll be able to live at. Why are you surprised about how Amber and that whore would feel about you?" "I'm not in the mood right now" said Maddie as she opened the door (and closed it), her place was filled with dust, dormant security cameras that were deactivated after the cops raided her place years earlier and finally, the remnants of her shrine of Dominic Antol in her room along with scattered pictures of him below her unwashed bed. "Lots of memories you have right there. First day back in society and what did you do, you found out that the Halligans and the customers at Target hate you and speaking of which, according to an excerpt from Amber, your 'bestie''s book you've been a thorn on their lives and they'll never forgive you for what you've done to them" said Dark Maddie and to Maddie's surprise, she was right when she an excerpt from the book in a newspaper ad for the book. "Let's face it, you'd rather be back in prison or better yet be an outcast like you were all these years ago before you met Dominic." said Dark Maddie as she goes into the mirror. "Go ahead, punch me, attack me it's not going to change a thing here." After listening to the words coming out of Dark Maddie's mouth, "Damn, damn you! Damn you Amber, Damn you Kelly!" said Maddie as she punches the mirror as hard as she can which caused blood to come out of her fist and collapsing in a puddle of tears. After the turmoil, Maddie saw a card that has Janice's phone number on the ground. "I can't live like this anymore, it's time for me to start over…"

END ACT IV


	8. Chapter 6

ACT V  
MICHELLE MILHORN COMMUNITY CENTER & ASSISTED LIVING  
"Almost ready for showtime Mom!" said Janice as she's putting the finishing touches to the birthday cake that's set to be delivered to one of the residents in the center. Janice is wearing a blue polo shirt that has the name of the community center on her left chest and jeans that covered her legs along with white sneakers. "Good to hear Janice, lets not keep our guest of honor waiting for her cake any longer. The Johnson family along with the birthday Grandma is looking forward to the cake." said Sonia wearing the matching uniform her daughter wears. Soon after, the Hayleys begin to deliver the cake to the family and afterwards, it's time to dig in to the meal on the patio of the community center! "This is the best cake I've ever eaten in my life!" said Grandma Johnson taking joy in her new pastry devised by the Hayleys. "Glad you enjoyed it, let us know if you need anything else" said Janice joyfully while her mother looks at the conversation satisfactory. "Looks like we have another satisfied client and a satisfied family Mom, glad those hospitality degrees and certifications paid off in the long run!" "I agree Janice, you've been working hard on your lessons and you've put them into good use for which I'm very proud of you." said Sonia as she patted Janice on the shoulder. Just then, Janice's phone rang in the middle of the party. "Hello, this is the Michelle Milhorn Community Center and Assisted Living center. My name is Janice Hayley and what can I do for you today?" answered Janice just like her response to her clients. "Have I caught you at a bad time?" asked a familiar voice "No, but who am I speaking to right now?" "Its Maddie, Madeline Sawyer." replied Maddie on the phone "OMGGGG Maddieeee! How's it going?! It's been so long since we last chatted" said Janice excitedly "Its been going good, just got out of prison and back into society. Even though I'm kinda surprised that my house phone still works after all these years haha" said Maddie "And I haven't asked anyone this before but I might need some help setting back into society as well as starting up a new chapter of my life. Before you ask how I remembered your phone number, not too long ago, you told me that if I ever needed some help I would ask and let you know as soon as I can." "Send me your address and I'll be on my way" said Janice "Thank you very much, I hope to see you real soon" said Maddie as she hung up the phone. "Who was that on the phone Janice an old friend of yours or something?" asked Sonia "Remember the prisoner that we visited years ago shortly before and after I graduated from high school named Madeline Sawyer?" asked Janice as she was trying to remind her mother of the now-former crazy soccer student turned prisoner that stalked her coach years ago. "Yeah, why?" said Sonia "Well, she's out of prison and she needs our help getting back on her feet, no pun intended" replied Janice as she told her mother that she'll be back soon with Maddie with her.

"And now the waiting game begins" said Maddie to herself. "This place right here has nothing but bad memories for me. Most of which is my misplaced love for Dominic. I don't know what the Hayleys would think of me looking like this mentally because I still have to live with the fact that I killed someone and putting a family into danger. Not to mention losing the best thing that happened to me in my high school career: my friendship with Amber Halligan. She went on to have a successful soccer playing career from her college to the big leagues and as for me, I lost 10 years of my life due to my heinous actions and I honestly don't know where to pick myself back up and go on with my life. It's going to be hard for people like myself to find a job and I can't seem to go back to school since who would want someone that endangers a well known family and took a son from their families' hands to be working with them or taking classes with them. Let's take it one day at a time…"  
About an hour later due to traffic in the area, Janice finally arrives at Maddie's place. "Well, this is it. This is the apartment that Maddie told me about earlier today." said Janice in her head as she parked her car in the driveway to Maddie's home. "I have a feeling that it's gonna take a while for Maddie to get settled into society once again after spending a number of years in prison."  
Janice would proceed to head over to the entrance of Maddie's home and ring the doorbell. "Hello?" asked Maddie as she opened up the door to a special guest which turned out to be Janice! "Maddieeee!" said Janice giving Maddie a hug to which she reciprocated. "Janice buddieee how's it been?!" asked Maddie excitedly "It's been good for the most part, just got out of a birthday party that we threw for one of our residents. It was a BLAST making the birthday cake with my mother along with the related pastries for the extra desserts" said Janice "So I'm guessing you and your mother work for an assisted living center or something?" asked Maddie "Not only that, we own the assisted living/community center where we house some of the residents in the community and provide a space for the community to do some volunteer work along with hosting select events!" replied Janice "Mind if I step in for a little while, its starting to get a little bit hot outside" "Absolutely! I have a couple of barely working fans around here so make yourself at home. Speaking of home, I'm kinda surprised that no one has occupied this space after I was sent to jail all these years ago. Not that I'd blame them by the way." said Maddie as she and Janice walked into the dusty, decrepit home "I remember you telling me on the phone that you wanted to move outta here. I think that the center has a couple of guest rooms available that we saved up just in case something happens to one of our family members and friends." said Janice "Yes of course! Let me pick up my belongings that I have and I'll be right back to you asap" said Maddie ready to get out of her apartment once and for all! Maddie would then go into her room and pick up her wrinkled clothes from her closet and her drawers. Along with that, she dug into her closet and found a dusted suitcase from one of the shelves and proceeded to put her clothes, her toiletries, as well as a couple of her pictures of herself with her late parents as a reminder of who she was before meeting Dominic, Amber, and Kelly to name a few. "All set and ready to go!" said Maddie coming down to meet Janice with her suitcase that's barely undusted in tow. "Well, are you ready for your next adventure?" asked Janice "Looks like you're carrying some baggage with ya" "Yea, I believe so Janice." said Maddie assuming that Janice is talking about her luggage that she's holding in her hand and unknown to Janice at this time, Maddie is also carrying mental baggage as well. "Let's hit the road!" said Janice

They proceeded to do just that after both women boarded the teal car. After they departed the driveway and into traffic, they are set out on their way to the community center. "So how is life treating you after so many years?" asked Maddie beginning a conversation between her and Janice. "It has some ups and downs. Been working on getting my degree at my college along with my scholarships and whatnot. During the basketball athletic program, I scored a lot of points in each of my games and we were on the verge of winning the national championship. Until suddenly, a freak accident sadly ended my basketball aspirations." reflected Janice "But hey everything happens for a reason you know and by the grace of God, my mother (who is a business owner and former community center worker) decided to open up an assisted living/community center building where we also live in and soon enough you too!" "Did your team win the tournament?" asked Maddie "Barely." said Janice feeling bittersweet in her thoughts. "As for me, prison was a mix of good things and bad things. The bad things first, I have to live with the fact that I'm never going to regain my ten years of my life that I had lost and also, aside from you and your mom, I barely have any visitors seeing me since who would want to still be friends with a murderer and a stalker *chuckles*. The good things that came out of it was that I was able to finish up my education in prison, learned some self-defense via kickboxing lessons to help get rid of some of my stress, and for a few months, took charge of the Straight Path program during the remainder of my sentence. I don't regret a thing from that experience if it meant that it'll help keep the youths from making the same mistakes I did." reflected Maddie. "Oh, before I forget, I ran into Dominic Antol for the first time in a long time during his visit to deliver his lecture. Had to stop my fellow prisoner from hurting him with her knife and I've learned that he's a father now. For that, I'm glad that he can start a family with Kelly..." "Seems like you had a lot going on in your prison stay" said Janice. As they stopped at a traffic stop along the highway, a red convertible that has its roof laid down with 2 tanned, barely muscular and white haired men wearing blue tank top shirts in the driver and passenger seat. "Wait, I know you, you're Janice Hayley, how's it going?!" asked one of the men. "My life has been going good, no thanks to you Eugene" replied Janice as she reflected on a time that Eugene and his brother Eric harassed her during a lunchtime session at her college. "I can see that, you have someone with you and she looks kinda familiar.." said Eugene "That's Madeline Sawyer! I heard she's into coaches and we're just happen to be coaches for a soccer team as well! Wanna join in the E squared express?" asked Eric. "Well let me say this, I used to be into soccer coaches but not anymore and I'm trying my best to get back into society so I'd suggest that since the light is green is that we go our separate ways and NEVER talk to us again. Otherwise I'll do something that I would regret" said Maddie with a serious intent. "Saved by the green light..." said Eugene as they drove away.

"Thanks Maddie, never saw that side of you" observed Janice "Lets just say that I don't like it when people attempt to hurt my friends. Lets drive." said Maddie

END ACT V


	9. Chapter 7

ACT VI - Interlude  
It is just another day for a good old fashioned father/son activity day at the Antol-Halligan household. Their house resembles a large scale white and green colored mansion that comprises of a kitchen, bedrooms, playrooms, a theater, a gym, and bathrooms just to name a few. Inside one of the playrooms, Dominic Antol and his 5-6 year old son Richard is playing a game of soccer make believe.  
"Will Richard Antol be able to make a goal to win the game for his team today? Or will the Valley View Warriors be able to score another one? Let's find out!" said Dominic who's wearing a light green sweater with white short pants with white socks on his feet. From there, Richard would run on the green carpet that's designed to resemble the playing field and kick the ball all over. Richard is wearing a short sleeved blue striped polo shirt with black gym shorts along with white socks on his feet. He then scratches his dark blonde hair figuring out what his next strategy would be for his play. "Do you give up young grasshopper?" asked Dominic playfully. "I think I got a move right here" said Richard as he races to the goal with the ball right in front of his right foot as he kicked it. Going right next to the goalie and Richard wins the game! "Congratulations son, you beat me yet again, sooner or later, you're gonna face a tougher challenge!" said Dominic giving his son a hug. "Well, let them come at me then Dad! I'm in the mood for some lemonade!" said Richard. The father and son duo of Dominic and Richard Antol would make their way to the kitchen to prepare themselves a helping of some grilled cheese. "I'm guessing this is the kitchen of champions!" said Richard "That's right champ! We just installed most of the memorabilia and some of my trophies in the glass corner. And lets not forget your cousin Amber's as well" said Dominic. "I'm ready for my grilled cheese!" said Richard as he brought out the white bread and cheddar cheese to put on the table. "So what do you want to be when you grow up junior? Bet you wanna be a soccer player just like me" said Dominic with a chuckle "Yes Dad!" said Richard excitedly while Dominic is preparing the grilled cheese sandwiches for them to consume in the middle of the day during Richard's summer break. "That's good to hear son, but for now school's right around the corner and after you finish your sandwich, we'll review some mathematics. How's that sound?" said Dominic picking up the finished sandwiches and proceeded to hand them over to his son. "Sounds good" said Richard beginning to consume his sandwich. After they had eaten their food, both Kelly and Amber Halligan returned to their home fresh after a long, rigorous book signing at Target. "Excuse the cliche Dominic but honey we're homeeeeee!" said Kelly cheerfully "Mommy!" said Richard running to give his mother a great big hug "How's your day today with your Dad?" asked Kelly "Its AWESOME, I beat him at soccer and we made grilled cheese sandwiches together!" said Richard "I can see that Richard, you've been practicing real hard and working hard while you're at it too." said Amber taking pleasure in the grilled cheese smell "Didn't know you're a cook as well Dominic!" "Well, I try to be Amber, Home Economics is one of the subjects I'm good at in High School haha" replied Dominic "Speaking of school, I gotta pick up the math textbook so Little Richard can play some math music with his drumstick pencils!" "I always thought Little Richard play with the pianos in his heyday!" said Amber "Even though, Richard is going to be a Math Musician one day!" "Hey Dominic, before you take Richard on a journey of 'Math Music', why don't we step outside for a little bit. I think we need to talk" said Kelly feeling concerned. "Alright, I'll meet you in a little while Richard and as matter of fact, Amber would take over before I arrive" said Dominic as he began to walk into his and Kelly's bedroom. Inside their bedroom was a red and black queen sized bed where Dominic and Kelly sleep on, lavender painted walls on each corner of the room, brown drawer chests where their clothing are stored and a chandelier hanging above them. "What's going on Kelly?" asked Dominic. "I never thought it would come to this but the last person I had expected to see showed up right in front of both me and Amber" said Kelly "And that person is Madeline Sawyer…" "I haven't heard about her in years. Last time I remembered, she's in prison working with the Straight Path program to help out the youth from not committing crimes and hurting people in the community." said Dominic "Well, she showed up offering her 'apologises' to us and don't you remember what she did to us 10 years ago?!" said Kelly "I'm not disagreeing with what you're saying. She killed Riley Jones in cold blood, she tried to ruin you and Gibson's career, harmed my fellow Coach Hendricks who's heading into retirement real soon and most of all put us in danger. She's experienced a dark time in her life that she regrets dearly. Maybe she's changed Kelly." "Well why don't we invite her to dinner someday at the Golden Corral where we talk about our high school memories we spent together. From there we'll discuss her precious Straight Path program her 'love' for you, the great times she and Riley spent together...ARE YOU CRAZY?! She's never going to change Dominic. Have you even looked at the bigger picture here? Amber gotten PTSD after she got nearly killed by Maddie and you know what, as I've said to her years back 'You deserved to live with it. ALL OF IT'" said Kelly "Look Kelly, I understand and respect your frustrations and I love you, Amber, and our son Richard. 10 years has passed since the unfortunate events and maybe, just maybe Maddie wants to turn her whole life around in this world." said Dominic "If Maddie has any type of newfound respect for us, she should move on with her life and leave us all alone." said Kelly "If you excuse me, you gotta go teach your son some math before he goes back to school real soon." Dominic then proceeded to head out the bedroom and into the study area where his son and Amber is located at. "I really don't know how you ever got involved with Madeline Sawyer once again Dominic. She's trying to find a way to get back into our lives and I hope you would be able to make the right decisions for our family's sake." thought Kelly "Now that the Maddie stuff is over hopefully, I have a presentation to prepare for in the coming weeks."  
END ACT VI


	10. Chapter 8

ACT VII  
The Johnson family was beginning to wrap up their grandmother's birthday celebration after they consumed their final desert that was offered to them. "Thanks for throwing one of the best birthday parties she has in her life today Sonia! Really appreciate the hospitality and the food." said one of the relatives of the birthday woman as she tipped Sonia on a job well done. As soon as the party depart the premises, Sonia discovered that she has a lot of work to do. "Well, most of the staff are on a late holiday which leaves myself and Janice to pick up the pieces the family left behind today" thought Sonia as she begins to do her work in the party area. As the work begins to commence, a doorbell rang near the entrance. Sonia would proceed to head to the entrance by travelling on foot on the sand colored floor of the house and from there, out came Janice returning from her day trip alongside the newest tenant of the facility Madeline Sawyer. "Welcome back Janice, and I see you brought a visitor along with you" said Sonia "Yup, you remember Maddie right? She's gonna be staying with us for a little while because she needs our help getting back on her feet" said Janice "Good evening Ms. Hayley, been a long time since we first met all these years ago. Your daughter's a great woman and a great person to me and others over the years" said Maddie. "Tell you what, why don't you get yourself cleaned up because you seem to endure a long couple of days my friend" said Sonia "The bathroom's on both floors of the place so you can make your pick if ya like. When you're done, we'll give you the tour of the place if ya want" "Thanks, I had in fact went through alot Ms. Hayley, should be done momentarily" said Maddie as she proceeded to the bathroom area. "I know what you're thinking Mom, it's probably not a good idea to house a former stalker, murderer but she has helped me out of a dark spot in my life several years ago. Felt like that I owed her for her work to make me a better person because if it wasn't for her, I would still pursue my former basketball coach back in school and hurt people along the way" said Janice "I don't know Janice, you see even though she wants to change, I don't know if she tried out other options for her quest to be a better person." said Sonia "She implied to me that no one else wanted her whether its somewhere to live at or work at. Maybe we could help her get a job here since we have a couple of our workers retiring real soon. In addition, we could help her out with her social and job skills because I believe that she's kinda 'rusty' in her social life." said Janice "...ok, I hope you know what you're doing" said Sonia. As the Hayleys were discussing the presence of Madeline Sawyer in their facility, Maddie was finishing up her cleansing in the bathroom shower. As she wrapped herself up in a white towel around her body, she has an unexpected visitor…. "Well well well, that was refreshing for you to finally get out of that 'wretched' place" said Dark Maddie facing Maddie in the mirror right in front of her. "I'm really not in the mood right now to talk to you right now. By the looks of it, I have a good reason for leaving that place earlier" retorted Maddie "Just because you left that place doesn't mean that you flat out drop everything and forget where you came from my friend." said Dark Maddie "Sooner or later, your precious Hayley buddies would leave you as a result of your actions just like your 'best friend' or should I say ex bestie Amber Halligan." "Playing the 'Amber' card once again. Try and be more creative sister and you're going to be playing the same record over and over again" said Maddie "I'm afraid I'm just getting started as a matter of fact, have you ever checked out what happened to one of your Straight Path students lately. I bet you think that they're staying out of trouble after their dirty deeds in the past." said Dark Maddie attempting to peep into Maddie's psyche "Their whereabouts are none of my concerns…" said Maddie. Just then, Dark Maddie brought up a couple of newspaper articles that mentioned that one of her Straight Path students named Marcia Anderson (who initially came in the program as a result of gang activity at her school and out of the program as a bookkeeper for her local library afterwards) was shot and killed by her former associates late at night in the middle of nowhere. "Remember Marcia, she was a very troubled yet determined person just like you Maddie. She didn't have a lot of friends and support to help her along the way in the game of life so she had to turn to her 'posse' for that need. Lets just say that her 'demons' caught up to her some time later after the abandoned that life thanks to you. I just wonder how her family would feel now that they lost another member that means so much to them…." said Dark Maddie "I've tried everything I can to keep them out of trouble and if you excuse me, I got somewhere I need to be right now" said Maddie trying to brush off what she has learned about one of her former students. Soon after, Maddie got dressed in a long gray and white striped shirt with long jeans and black shoes on her feet and proceeded to head out to meet the Hayleys. By the time Maddie made her way downstairs to the lobby, she saw the Sonia looking into Janice's phone. "All set and ready to go!" said Maddie "Glad you're all dressed for the occasion, why don't we show you around shall we?" said Janice putting down her phone. "By the way are you feeling ok Maddie?" "Lets just say that its been a long couple of days or weeks for me. Just got dumped back into society after a decade and that'll do that to me" said Maddie. "It's tough for former offenders to return to society after a stint in prison but hey, look at the bright side it's a new beginning for you" assured Janice as she begins to show Maddie around the center. During the tour, Janice and Sonia showed Maddie the kitchen area where they prepare food for the residents and the workers from time to time, the TV/Rec room where clients can tune in and watch various TV shows as well as old time movies, a mini exercise gym for residents to keep up with their health, residential rooms that comprise of a bed, a lamp, dressers, and a soft carpet on the ground. In addition, there's a video game room for young visitors who stop by and do volunteer work for their schools or churches, an area for special events or parties that is still barely dirty after the Johnson party, and a couple of rooms for the tenants: Janice and Sonia Hayley and now Maddie Sawyer. "So, what do you think of the place?" asked Sonia "Looks neat, and it looks like you guys put in the work for it as well! If you don't mind me asking and I apologize in advance if I might've asked you already, are you guys hiring at this time?" said Maddie "Well, looks like you're in luck and as a matter of fact we'll start with your interview tomorrow morning. For now, why don't you go and make yourself at home ok Maddie. If you want some leftovers from the party, feel free to let us know" said Sonia "Thanks, really appreciate it, see you soon" said Maddie being thankful for their initial hospitality. As soon as Maddie went into her room, Sonia and Janice went on to have a little mother and daughter talk once more. "Don't know if Maddie knows about this but I saw on the news that one of her former students is killed by her former gang members." mentioned Sonia "At first I thought that she's still recovering from being released into prison and wasn't sure how she's going to survive into society" said Janice. "Kinda figured that Maddie would feel that way because I seem to understand that her participation in her program during her time in jail meant a lot to her and she did her best in steering the youth out of harm's way including you Janice" said Sonia. "Tell you what, to help keep her mind off of things, I might try and help her out with her interview skills before she goes to work tomorrow" suggested Janice. "Sounds fair Janice." said Sonia as both women begin to wind down for the day.

END ACT VII


	11. Chapter 9

ACT VIII  
Dear Diary,  
Wow, it has seriously been a minute since we last touched base. Or in this case putting my pen onto this paper *chuckles* well anyways, it has been a busy, busy, busy time for myself during the past couple of weeks and stuff. Why don't I just tell you what's been going on in my life. I had recently finished up my 10+ year prison sentence for murder, vandalism, trespassing, stalking, the list goes on and on. Let me tell ya, it's not easy having to say goodbye to the Straight Path program that I played a huge part in along with my cellmates. I helped to make a difference in my student lives (I hope I did) and I had a lot of fun doing that but all good things must come to an end right? In my return my society, I had a desire to make amends to the people I had hurt before my stint in jail namely the Halligans both Amber and her aunt Kelly. One of which became a well-known soccer player after she graduated both high school and college, the other a successful businesswoman who has faced adversity throughout her career and also due to my actions in sabotaging her equipment just to get back at her for taking away my (misplaced) love for my former Coach Dominic. When I attempted to apologize to the Halligans, they rejected my pleas of making amends with them and I had to leave before I can possibly cause a scene. Not that I would blame them in any way shape or form since if I was in their shoes and somebody attempts to make me feel unsafe and/or threatened, I would've probably done the same thing. Let me be honest with you, I MISS having Amber's company in my life because she was one the only people that wants me to have a great high school experience and not to mention, being a great friend in my life. However, because of my heinous actions towards Dominic along with her family, I lost a great friend and that's something I would have to live with for the rest of my days. Every failure brings in new opportunities to better myself and I had asked the Hayleys to help me get myself settled back into society the right way, namely finding a place to live besides my decrepit apartment as well as getting a new career for the first time since my internship at a small tech firm. Speaking of tech, Ms. Hayley offered me a position at their community center since one of their longtime workers Harry Barnes is set to retire in a couple of days or so and they needed someone to fill in his shoes. Long story short, Ms. Hayley did a (at first) mock interview as a way to hone my interviewing skills since I haven't been in an interview for so long. During the interview process, I had to dress professionally in a buttoned down long sleeved blue shirt with black dress pants as well as sandals on my feet. Not to mention, my locks being curly in contrast to my 'trademark' straight hair on my head. I've told Ms. Hayley what my skills are namely a general knowledge of IT fundamentals, able to troubleshoot problems from a PC, building security cameras by hand, and can create spreadsheets, databases, documents, and powerpoints. Being tech savvy, I identified the parts of a motherboard that was brought out by Janice and in addition, I impromptuly fixed a malfunctioning computer screen since the cable for the monitor was barely loose. All I had to do was tighten up the cable and the screen goes back to its status quo. Before you ask, yes, I'm a computer NERD! Before I lost my mind and marbles, I was proficient in IT fundamentals so much that I had plans to help change the world when I grow older. God willing, I would have this second chance I'm having right now to accomplish my initial goals because there's a saying that we have a lifetime to achieve your goals. I pray that I would be able to get the job done, I pray for the Halligans to have a successful soccer and business career, I pray for Dominic to be a great parent and husband to the family. Most of all, I pray that I would be able to do my best everyday and everynight. Hope to chat with you again soon.  
-Madeline Sawyer  
"Looks like you've been writing a lot this evening. Haven't seen this side of you in so, so many years kid" said Dark Maddie "What do you want this time?" said Maddie looking at Dark Maddie once more. "First things first, I want to congratulate you on your brand new job that the Hayleys have given you. You've passed their test in flying colors from what I've seen of you." said Dark Maddie. "Thanks for the input, I'm about to go have some dinner with Janice. Last time I checked, she's treating us with some pizza and you're not invited for the festivities" said Maddie. "Wasn't planning on going to your precious pizza party for the evening. Just a little heads up Maddie: sooner or later, you're going to have to face your past during your hours at work. It's going to be pretty interesting to see how it would turn out for you." said Dark Maddie as she leaves Maddie being a little bit bewildered at the revelation. Afterwards, Maddie heads out to the dinner table where the Hayleys are beginning to consume their warm and creamy cheese pizza! "Aren't you going to save some for me?!" said Maddie playfully as she arrived to the table. "We wasn't going to eat all of the pizza without you bud!" said Janice "Come dig in with us!" Immediately after, the pizza party begins with Maddie, Janice, and Sonia indulging in the pizza cuisine so much that their bellies became full. "Looks like I did good on the interview earlier huh?" said Maddie. "Yep, you did a fantastic job with the interview today. Sometimes, being a IT tech isn't the easiest job in the world but now knowing that you're good with technology, you seem like a good fit for us" said Sonia being appreciative of Maddie's accomplishments. "Thanks again for the opportunity, I have a feeling that I have a busy day tomorrow" said Maddie as she begins to prepare to wind down for the day. And a busy day that Maddie would have to face because today a high school soccer team is going to do some volunteer work for the community center. More specifically some of its residents that are living at the center. "Maddie, are you almost done calibrating the printers so we can print out some programs for the event?" asked Janice as she visited Maddie working on the printers inside the office. "Almost done, should be up and running momentarily" said Maddie as she begins to embrace her new position as well as hoping that the youngsters won't give her a hard time! Just then, the high school soccer players arrived at the entrance decked out in matching red/white uniforms with fruit baskets in tow. "Looks like the cavalry has arrived for our residents. I'm gonna go greet them and as for you Maddie, I want you to make sure the game room is up and running for the kids." addressed Sonia "Aye ye captain!" said Maddie smiling at Sonia. As Maddie would go on her way to the game room, she saw a very familiar face in the swarm of the young soccer players. The same face that Maddie had poisoned several years ago which would led to their coma for a short time. That person: COACH HENDRICKS!  
End Act VIII


	12. Chapter 10

Act IX  
There are three things in life that are certain: death, taxes, and seeing some of your peers that you've hurt in the past. That is what Maddie Sawyer is facing right now right in front of her in the form of Coach Alicia Hendricks. She has on a dark blue sweatshirt with matching sweatpants that covers her legs and white sneakers on her feet. Hendricks would scratch her light orange hair wondering why Maddie would all of a sudden be working in an assisted living home. "Kids, why don't you get started with delivering the donations and entertaining those residents. Me and this young woman have some unfinished business." said Coach Hendricks both addressing the kids and Maddie. "Welcome to our assisted living place. Is there anything I could do for you?" asked Maddie trying her best to hold her personal grievances and her nervousness inside of her. "For starters, what are you doing here Maddie? The last time I checked, you were put in the funny farm or something after almost taking my life away and not to mention taking Riley Jones away from us." said Hendricks sternly "In fact, and since we're here, I want you to know that you've been permanently banned from ever setting foot in our school ever again due to actions." Maddie's first instinct was to defend herself after listening to Hendricks' words coming out of her mouth to Maddie's ear holes but instead she held her head down in shame. "Don't got nothing else to say Maddie?" asked Hendricks. "Is there a problem here ladies? I heard some voices coming out from the hallway" asked Sonia as she walked into the conversation. "I was about to go back and work on the computers. I hope that the volunteers would be able to make the residents day special" said Maddie as she heads her way to the back. "You may be a great coach and a great teacher but in this facility patrons should treat its workers with respect whether you like them or you don't like them regardless of their past" said Sonia telling Hendricks of the house keeping around the facility. "I'll keep that in mind, don't want to have any trouble in the facility" said Hendricks sternly. "That's the last thing we have to worry about." retorted Sonia. After the conversation between the two women, Maddie went into the store room where there's a collection of used clothing, VHS tapes, and old books to name a few. From there, Maddie would have a reflection on what had transpired. "I didn't expect that to happen the way it did. I'm grateful for the business that young soccer players came out to entertain the residents around here but I was blindsided that Coach Hendricks came by as well telling me that I can't go to that high school anymore forever. Given my record its not surprising to me. I can't seem to get over that anxiety whenever people from my past show up to my doorstep." thought Maddie. "Well, that sure seems like an interesting conversation we just experienced." said Dark Maddie coming up right next to her. "I felt that you wanted to say or do something to her but you held your head down in shame. Remember when she tried to get your favorite coach Dominic Antol fired from his job and you had attempted to take her out of the equation by taking away this EpiPen from her bag" From there Dark Maddie would hold a box of EpiPen showing it to Maddie to illustrate her point. "I get what you're trying to say to me and I have a job and career now. Even if we still have our differences, we have to treat each other with respect whether we want to or not. I admit, I do feel anxious when I'm around her and/or her students these days." said Maddie. "I think I know what's up. You still have feelings for Dominic, sooner or later you'll get that second opportunity to win his heart Maddie!" said Dark Maddie. "Someday, you're going to have to make a decision that would either break you or make you into the woman that you deserve to be…" Just then, Janice en route to picking up a couple of items from the store room, found Maddie 'talking to herself'. "Maddie, I heard what happened earlier with the soccer coach. Are you alright and can still continue your duties for the day?" asked Janice feeling concerned for her friend. "I'm fine, it's just that sometimes you don't get along with everyone you know?" said Maddie attempting to hide the truth of her feelings regarding the student/coach relationship between her and Coach Hendricks. "I get the feeling too Maddie." said Janice empathizing with Maddie. "Tell you what, why don't we see what's going on with the TV in the game room I heard some of the kids need their video game to work!" From there, Janice and Maddie would go into the game room where they find exhausted and restless soccer kids after their long meeting with the residents waiting to play their game. "We tried to plug in the GameSystem Deluxe to the cables in the back but the picture isn't showing" said one of the soccer students. "Let me see if I remember how to do this" said Maddie as she took the HDMI cable from the student and plugged it in the correct port on the TV as well as putting the remaining connectors to the correct plugs. From there, the picture and audio is in living color! "Death's Gambit: Rise of the Endless, sounds like an excellent selection kids!" smiled Maddie "But be careful when facing Endless, I heard she has a few tricks up her sleeves!" Afterwards, the kids are having a great time playing Death's Gambit for at least a couple of hours. Suddenly, one of the kids had accidentally eaten a peanut butter sandwich during snack time. "Are you alright?" asked Maddie tending to one of the kids who's coughing and can barely breathe. "I'm not feeling too good and my throat is feeling kinda funny." replied one of the kids. Rightfully so, the scene went from fun and enjoyment to a medical crisis as one of the students is on the verge of succumbing to a peanut allergy. Just then Janice would send Maddie to the store room to pick up the spare EpiPen for emergencies like this one. As Maddie departed the area, Coach Hendricks came by to check on her students. "Is Matt going to be ok?" asked Hendricks. "He forgot to bring in his EpiPen this morning and I can't reach his parents over the phone." "We got an EpiPen coming your way, Maddie's getting it" said Janice. Afterwards, Maddie would unwrap the EpiPen and injected it onto Matt's leg ridding him from the peanut allergy trouble. "Thank you" said Matt feeling grateful. "Word of advice, always remember to keep an EpiPen with you at all times. You never know what's going to happen with you" said Maddie. "That's ironic coming from you Maddie" said Hendricks with her thought of Maddie taking away her EpiPen years ago and poisoning her sandwich. "You know what Coach Hendricks, I got something to say to you about that. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I nearly took your life away in that office and you were just doing your job in that school. I had to live with what I had done to you everyday and we had to share the burden of it for so many years." said Maddie feeling bad after she saved Matt's life. "There's not a day that goes by that I wish that I didn't want to take your EpiPen away and you deserve to live a great life." After Maddie said her peace she began to walk back to her quarters in the facility. "I think it's time for us to go on our way and Janice, tell your coworker thank you for saving Matt's life with that extra EpiPen." said Hendricks possibly forgiving Maddie but not forgetting what she did to her. In Maddie's room, she would collapse on her bed wondering why people would still judge her actions regardless of her past and present activities. "Like I said Maddie, sooner or later, you're going to have to face your past peers sister." said Dark Maddie. "Like I was expecting you to punch Hendricks out or something but I didn't expect you to apologize to her." "You don't have to rub it in, she has every right to hate and resent me" replied Maddie forlorn "I'm just glad that she's doing ok with her students, that's all." "And now the question is: do you still love Dominic or do you hate yourself?" asked Dark Maddie pondering what her next moves might bring.

End Act IX


	13. Chapter 11

Act X - INTERLUDE  
"Well this is it, I've been planning for this day to come." thought Kelly Halligan as she got herself dressed in a casual blue shirt with matching jeans along with sandals on her feet for her book presentation at the Pauley Pavilion (the same arena that Janice graduated at). "I hope my partner Gibson would come back from her vacation on time so she could help me have my last minute preparations for my presentation". After she finishes her thought, Gibson texted Kelly telling her that she'll be on her way to the arena momentarily and that she'll be waiting for her. Kelly is relieved to learn about the news from her business partner. "Kelly, are you almost ready to go? Both Amber and Richard are anxious to get out of the house. They're really looking forward to your presentation and so am I" said Dominic standing with his niece in law and their child. Dominic is dressed in a dark blue suit and tie with Richard dressed in a similar attire. Amber is dressed in a bright pink dress with matching sandals on her feet. "Coming down in a jiffy, can't keep you all waiting guys" said Kelly as she joins the rest of the family on their latest trek! After the Halligans packed in their vehicle, they are ready to go to Kelly's book presentation. "So Richard, what are you hoping to get from my presentation today?" asked Kelly "I'm hoping that you'll teach us how to be business people and not have much fun at work" sarcastically replied Richard. "Well in the business world there's a concept or philosophy if you will that tells us that whenever we work hard, we also PLAY hard as well. Trust me on this one Richard, even though I predominately play soccer for my team, there's a 'business' side to it as well during which I attend lots of team meetings as well as my sponsors" replied Amber patting Richard on the shoulder. "Amber's right son, sooner or later for whichever goal you want to be when you grow up, you have to always be willing to go the extra mile by any means necessary" said Dominic. "Your father's right Richard, to get where we're at right now at this point, it's sometimes easy and it's sometimes hard. But what matters is HOW we reach the mountaintop and that way our hard work pays off! Am I right or wrong?" said Kelly "Right on!" replied Richard with him giving his mother a hi-five to show off his newfound enthusiasm. After the conversation, Kelly started to feel something a little bit strange going on inside of her. "Kelly, are you feeling ok?" asked Dominic feeling justified concern regarding his wife and mother of their child. "I'm ok for the most part, just feeling a little bit tired or something. Might need some water." replied Kelly. 15 minutes later and after a couple of sips of water by Kelly, the Halligans have made it to the Pauley Pavilion safe and sound. "We're here because we're here! Let's go see the Woman of the Hour do what she does best!" said Dominic enthusiastically to his family. After they parked their vehicle, they're on their way to the presentation. Inside the Green Room, Kelly's business partner Ms. Yvonne Gibson was waiting all morning for Kelly Halligan-Antol to arrive for the presentation. Ms. Gibson was dressed in a long-sleeved gray and black split-neck bowknot top and a long black skirt as well as matching boots on her feet. "Took you guys long enough, I was worried that you're not gonna show up for your presentation. And I see you brought along company as well!" said Ms. Gibson playfully while greeting the Halligan clan by giving them handshakes and hugs. "Well, I guess we're fashionably late than Ms. Gibson. Thanks for holding down the fort for us until our arrival" said Kelly feeling ready for her presentation. "I'm glad you feel that way, and I see your little soccer player is excited about the show today am I right or wrong on that one youngster?" asked Ms. Gibson addressing Richard "You betcha!" said Richard giving Ms. Gibson a high five with a smile. "I see that he's very excited today and I think the presentation is about to start" said Amber checking the time. "I think you're going to do a great job with the presentation Kelly, I know you've rehearsed this several times during the week and you're going to knock it outta the park this morning. That's a guarantee." assured Dominic as he gives Kelly a good luck kiss on her lips. "Let's do this!" said Kelly as she makes her way out to the stage in front of 10,000 people in the stands. "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the author of her bestselling book 'How To Make Your Business BLOSSOM', the wife of soccer legend Dominic Antol, and the hero to all aspiring workers, Ms. Kelly Halligan-Antol!" blurted the PA announcer. From there Kelly came on the stage podium with a thunderous ovation from the crowd who's ready to learn a thing or two about business! "What's up Los Angeles?!" asked Kelly "I bet you're wondering how I got to this stage in my life. Having a brand that you own, being able to work with your coworkers as well as your friends. And most importantly, having a great and loving family who has the same enthusiasm as you. Let me let you in on a little secret, getting to where I'm at is not that easy. During our path, we often….often…." said Kelly as she began to feel woozy and later collapsed on the floor to the audiences' horror. "Kelly! Kelly! Are you ok?!" asked Dominic after dashing to the stage. "Someone get an ambulance!" "Mom?!" cried Richard while Amber began to come out and meet the family "Is she going to be ok?" "I don't really know…" replied Amber also feeling concern. Afterwards, the EMTs came up and proceeded to take Kelly to the hospital and the Halligans would join Kelly in the ambulance, giving the presentation an abrupt ending. A couple of hours later in the hospital, Kelly is resting in her quarters while her family is in the waiting room waiting for the results of her tests. "Where am I?" asked Kelly waking up from her unwanted slumber "You've taken a pretty bad fall during your presentation" said Dr. Zachariah Rogers "Well, I thought I drank lots of water to keep myself hydrated and I did feel a little bit woozy during my ride to the arena earlier today." replied Kelly who's resting on her bed. "Let me ask you a couple of questions meanwhile, did you have trouble sleeping?" asked Dr. Rogers. "I admit, I did have some trouble sleeping from time to time, I worked long hours on my presentation and my business." replied Kelly. "Have you lost your appetite on more than one occasion?" asked Dr. Rogers "I think I have at least once in awhile" replied Kelly. "Okay, have you ever have nauseating experiences in the last couple of weeks?" asked Dr. Rogers. "I might have every once in awhile." replied Kelly. "Okay, right now, we're going to do some tests on you and find out what's causing you to be in this situation" said Dr. Rogers as he begins to do a series of tests. After the tests, Dr. Rogers would explain to Kelly that she has a kidney failure in her system. "I'm really sorry that you have to hear the terrible news." said Dr. Rogers dejectedly. Understandably, Kelly was shocked and saddened because now she faces the prospect of losing her life because of her kidney failure. After the bad news, Dominic, Amber, and Richard visited the quarters where the Doctor and Kelly were having a conversation. "What's the scoop Doc?, is Kelly going to be ok?" asked a concerned Dominic. "As I've told her moments ago, she has a kidney failure in her system. The only way she's going to survive this is that she's going to have to get a kidney transplant from a donor who has a matching type" said the Doctor. "Dominic, Richard, Amber, we're going to win this battle. We've been in similar (un-related) situations before and we got this" said Kelly trying to lift up their spirits. "I don't want to say goodbye to Mommy" said Richard as he began to tear up "Its going to be okay Richard, your Mom's a brave warrior who loves us dearly. The last thing she wants is for her to leave us. We're gonna pray for a miracle to happen for as long as she can hold on…." said Dominic while they give a great big hug to Kelly.

END ACT X


	14. Chapter 12

ACT XI  
Several years ago….  
Inside one of the hallways of a very familiar high school, Amber Halligan a couple of days after her soccer practice was sitting down in front of the lockers thinking about what her next steps are to solving THAT algebra problem for her class assignment. "In my mind, Math is Mental Abuse to Humans from what I've heard and I'd rather be back in soccer practice than doing this tedious assignment." thought Amber looking down at her assignment. "I think you should put in an x over there and another x over there as well. When you're done, I think you'll be good to go!" said Maddie as she arrived to Amber's study palace. "Are you either joking at me or are you giving me the answers to my assignment" said Amber. "You tell me Amber, you're the one who's doing the work at this moment" said Maddie with a chuckle. "True, looks like you know a thing or two about mathematics and question, is it me or are you into math that much" asked Amber. "Fun fact, I used to be on the math team for one of my previous schools, lets just say it came naturally to me" replied Maddie. "In regards to your math problems, I can picture how many times Coach Dominic can kick a soccer ball to his goals at least in word problems." "Yeah, well I gotta get to class, hope you have a nice rest of the day Maddie." said Amber as she began to leave for her class. "Same here, see you at practice!" replied Maddie as they parted ways for the day until their next soccer practice.

Now...  
Today is an annual tradition in the walks of life for humans. National Friendship Day. Its a holiday in which the joys of friendship and love are celebrated. Furthermore couples can celebrate it too since their significant others are also best friends as well! For this occasion, the Hayleys were about to go to their yearly retreat to the Mt. Pickney Retreat Center where they would be able to replenish and rejuvenate their moods after a long series of work life. This time around, they asked Maddie to join them for the trip after she was working so hard at the facility. To which Maddie accepted because in her mind, the Hayleys treated her very well for the first time since she had befriended Amber Halligan several years ago. (That is until their friendship is ruined to to Maddie's heinous actions) Inside the car where Janice's mother is doing the driving, in honor of Friendship Day, the passengers (Maddie & Janice) reflected on their friendship experiences together on the road. Maddie had done her reflection of her *former* friendship with then-classmate Amber Halligan to which she used to practice soccer with on the field, the tutoring sessions for their classes, and then some. To add on her reflection, if it wasn't for her prison time spent, she wouldn't have even met the Hayleys to begin with. "Thanks for sharing your friendship story Maddie and even though it unfortunately ended between you girls, it seems to me that you really valued your friendship with Amber very much." said Janice after hearing about Maddie's friendship with Amber. "As for me, I used to be friends with a dude named Gregory. Like yours truly, he's really into basketball so much that he begs his parents to take him to every game he could find in the area. During P.E. class with him, he often asked the same questions over and over again to the teacher and myself as well. Personally, I don't mind him asking questions every once in a while but whenever he does that, I had assumed that he was acting like a younger child in comparison to the rest of his classmates including myself. Eventually when he asked me what to do in regards to the team project, I lashed out at him and he broke down right in front of me. My teacher eventually pulled me over and lectured me about tolerance and stuff. Also here's the kicker, Gregory had Asperger's to which he learned the material in a different pace as well as handling social skills compared to the others. After class, Gregory calmed down and I had apologized to him for the way I had treated him. From then on, we worked together on more projects for the class and this time I came to an understanding of his disability." "That seems like an interesting story, comes to show that anybody can learn in a certain way or two." said Maddie after listening to Janice's tale. "I have to agree with Maddie on this one Janice, it's best to crawl before you run" said Sonia. Throughout the road trip to the retreat, the car has been on the road for at least a couple of hours with trees, nature, and greenery on sight. Between those trees were flashing billboards that advertised cars, products and most notably images of soccer superstar Amber Halligan and her Uncle in law Dominic Antol advertising their latest Special K cereal box! After that billboard up the road, there's another billboard featuring Kelly Halligan-Antol's Digital Art Haven business portfolios on the board. "Well well well Maddie, what a great reflection of your friendship and love for the Halligans during 'story time' this evening" said Dark Maddie sitting next to Maddie herself while the Hayleys can't see Dark Maddie themselves. "I gotta say, speaking of which those billboards that we just passed look artistically great don't you think?" "What do you want now? Can't you see, we're on our way to a retreat" retorted Maddie while being annoyed. "I can see that and speaking of retreat, you're trying to have a 'retreat' from me by attempting to get away from me as far as you can but NEWS FLASH like I said before in the past and I'll say it again I'm a PART of you and you CAN'T get rid of me. Whether you like it or not Madeline Elizabeth Sawyer, I'm always going to be there" said Dark Maddie. "Amen to that" said Maddie "Why so anxious Maddie, back to those billboards don't you wish that you can replace that bimbo Kelly in that photo with Coach Dominic?" said Dark Maddie to which Maddie ignores her. "No comment, that's fine because I bet it's eating you up inside knowing that you can't be with Dominic. Its hard for you to admit that you still have feelings for the dude as well as your failure as a mentor. Hashtag Remember Marcia..." After the little chat, Maddie became a little bit anxious during the remainder of the trip. After the long road trip, they finally made it to the retreat center. "Took us a little minute but we finally made it to the great retreat!" exclaimed Sonia as the crew parked their vehicle. "Well, what do you think of the exterior of the place?" asked Janice while surveying the facilities. Alongside the beautiful wooded tree forest surrounding the buildings, there is a campus of large wooded cabins comprising of bunk beds, bathrooms, living quarters, and a kitchen just to name a few. Furthermore, there's the open area where guests/visitors can set up a campsite with firewood and whatnot. "It looks amazing, kinda like a neighborhood inside of the woods. A nice change of scenery in my opinion" replied Maddie. "Tell you what, why don't we go inside and freshen up a bit and afterwards, I'll show you how us Hayleys do our retreat activities in the woods. How's that sound Maddie?" said Sonia with Janice agreeing to what her mother said. "I'd like that, I haven't been in some sort of nature activity in such a long time and one of the last times I'd done it was with my cousins as part of a hiking trip several years back. Sorry if I babbled on regarding my nature experience" said Maddie. "No worries!" said Sonia. After they cleaned up and packed their items from the cabin, its off to the great camping extravaganza! Sonia and Janice has a long sleeved flannel yellow and green shirt on respectively along with long jeans and shoes on their feet. As for Maddie, she's decked in a gray sweatshirt with long jeans and boots on her feet. After a long hike, the crew has finally made it to their campsite. As the Hayleys began to set up their space for the night, Maddie began to reflect on her time in high school once again when she and Amber had to do a team building exercise in a gym class field trip during which, both team members have to climb up the ropes and successfully ring the bell on top of the rafters. The participants were buckled up with safety harnesses on their bodies to prevent them from dying and Maddie had tried several times to reach the bell. When she struggled, Amber saved her from doom by helping Maddie up to which Maddie was very greatful and as for Amber, another learning experience in the world of teamwork. "Would you like me to search for some firewood around the area? I have a feeling that we might need some fresh ones" said Maddie after she observed the lack of firewood available on their campsite "If you want to Maddie, are you sure you wouldn't want me to go with you" asked Janice starting to feel concern for Maddie as she embarks on her quest to get the firewood. "I won't be long, I promise!" replied Maddie as she heads out to get the fresh batch of firewood. As Maddie waded the woods, a sudden chill began to come up all around her. Just then, she heard a crying noise in the background and as she walked a little more, she sees a young girl crying feeling lost in the woods. "Are you okay?" asked a concerned Maddie approaching the girl. Just then the girl's face turned around and told Maddie the following: "YOU DID THIS MADDIE". Just then, Maddie was blindsided by multiple versions of the bullies that Maddie had faced in the past only this time, they have a redder hue all over their bodies. Maddie tried to defend herself with the lessons she had learned from her kickboxing class but to no avail. During each strike, Maddie punches the hard trees and gaining splinters all over her hands in the process and sore knuckles as well. "You have to admit it, you have to admit it to yourself sooner or later..." said Dark Maddie bearing first witness to the punishment that Maddie has to face. The thugs would then splash her with a couple of cups of beer to her face (in reference to when Maddie took one of the party-goers drinks at the party in order to make herself look drunk so Dominic can take her home) and then toss her around the field where Maddie would land on a pile of sticks and stones. Right in front of Maddie is an abandoned shack that has its door closed. As soon as Maddie approaches the door, it opened and out came both Amber and Kelly Halligan to which in Maddie's perspective the first time they've seen each other since the infamous Target signing incident. "Please help me, Kelly, Amber, help me..." begged Maddie in tears feeling desperate to get the thugs out of her sight and leaving her alone. "Like I said Madeline, you DESERVED to live with it, ALL. OF. IT." said Kelly as she slammed the door right in front of Maddie. "Madeline Elizabeth Sawyer, it has come to this point that you just have to get the burden off of your back. Admit that the reason that you wanted to get back in good graces with the Halligans and also, you still love Dominic and it SICKENS you to see him with that blonde haired bitch!" said Dark Maddie lurking over the petrified Maddie. "Do you love Dominic? Answer me" "...Yes I do..." said Maddie feeling broken. "Say it loud Madeline!" said Dark Maddie "I LOVE DOMINIC" said Maddie crying her eyes out in pain physically and emotionally on the ground. "Would you die for your love?" gloated Dark Maddie alongside her dark posse surrounding the both of them. "...yes..." retorted Maddie feeling broken and defeated. "Here's the tools, finish the job Madeline" said Dark Maddie as she pointed to spiked branches adjacent to the shack for Maddie to use. "Maddie! Maddie! Are you ok?!" said Janice as she and Sonia overheard the commotion and chased Dark Maddie and her demonic thugs out of the premises and faded away in the distance. "Please just leave me alone..." said Maddie in tears and still severely bruised. "We'll get you some help Maddie..." "You don't understand what I have been through, it's too late for me, I'm way too deep" interrupted Sonia's assistance. "It's not too late, you can still get through this just like you did all these years ago. I know it looks bleak right now but you WILL be alright." said Sonia feeling concerned for Maddie. "We don't know what's happened to you unless you let us know Maddie. We're in this together alright because just like you took me out of a dark place in my life, let us help you please" said Janice offering her hand to Maddie. "Good Evening, Maddie. I know its been a while since we last touched base. Wanted to check up on ya" said a vision of Riley Jones who's standing behind a vulnerable Maddie. "A lot of people on this planet think a lot of things about us, outkasts, show offs, introverts to name a few. But in your case, a murderous psychopath who wanted to hurt people in order to get what she wants in life. When it's all said done, those activities you did in reality masked who you really are Maddie: a troubled young woman who has had a miserable life." said Riley calling Maddie out on her actions from the past decade. "But hey, I forgive you of what you've done to me and my friends. Everything's going to be ok if you choose to follow me. Everyone's going to get along fine and we'll all be at a clean and perfect slate. Just think about it Maddie..." During the whole conversation between Maddie and a vision of Riley, Maddie is still tearing up and feeling broken of what she had went through.

END ACT XI


End file.
